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Real Agreements Not Reached on Beginning of Constitutional Reform in Ukraine - Lavrov

© RIA Novosti . Vladimir Astapkovich / Go to the mediabankRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during the news conference following four-party meeting on Ukraine
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during the news conference following four-party meeting on Ukraine - Sputnik International
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Actual agreements on beginning constitutional reforms in Ukraine were not reached during four-party talks in Berlin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

BERLIN, August 18 (RIA Novosti) — Actual agreements on beginning constitutional reforms in Ukraine were not reached during four-party talks in Berlin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

"The agreements were set in the April 17 Geneva Accords. They said that there should be an immediate beginning on constitutional reform, including a wide national dialogue with the participants of all regions and all political forces in Ukraine," Lavrov said.

"So far we have not been able to reach any real agreements. But it’s also important that no one during the meeting of foreign ministers from Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany was against confirming the Geneva Accords. That’s already a feat in itself," Lavrov said.

"One may say it is a poor achievement when you consider the fact that you reaffirm the statement made months ago as progress. But some in Europe were not even able to recognize the Geneva statement," he said.

The April Geneva agreement stated that all sides in Ukraine must refrain from any violence, intimidation or provocative actions and "all illegal armed groups must be disarmed; all illegally seized buildings must be returned to legitimate owners; all illegally occupied streets, squares and other public places in Ukrainian cities and towns must be vacated."

The agreement also called for a national dialogue and said that the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission should play a leading role in assisting Ukrainian authorities and local communities in implementing the measures, with the US, the EU and Russia supporting the mission, including by providing monitors.

The Berlin meeting of the foreign chiefs was the second four-party meeting of the kind. During the previous talks on July 2, also in Berlin, the four foreign ministers agreed on a declaration that called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine’s southeast.

Kiev launched a special operation in eastern Ukraine in mid-April to suppress independence supporters who refused to recognize the legitimacy of its new authorities. Moscow has repeatedly urged Ukrainian authorities to immediately stop the punitive operation and seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

According to a report by the mission of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), nearly 1,400 people have been killed since the special operation in eastern Ukraine began, while about 117,000 of Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes and cross into neighboring Russia in search of shelter.

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