NATO urge Russia, as a party to the Minsk agreements, to withdraw heavy weapons and its militants troops from Donbas

Open source

NATO Heads of State and Government have called on the Russian Federation, as a party to the Minsk agreements, to withdraw heavy weapons from Donbas and all militant formations under its control.

This was said in a statement following the meeting of the North Atlantic Council with Georgia and Ukraine at the Brussels Summit, the NATO website reported.

«The ongoing armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, instigated and perpetuated by Russia, remains a major challenge to Euro-Atlantic security, and has produced a humanitarian catastrophe in the Donbas. This has led to the loss of more than 10,000 lives and displaced over 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens,» – said in the statement.

«Allies and Ukraine reaffirmed their support for the settlement of the conflict by diplomatic means in accordance with the Minsk Agreements and welcomed the efforts of the Normandy format in this regard,» – the message said.

«Russia, as a party to the Minsk Agreements, bears significant responsibility in this regard. NATO and Ukraine called on Russia to withdraw its forces and to cease all political, financial and military support to the Russian-led militants in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,» – the message said.

As «The Journalist» reported, Poroshenko welcomes NATO summit annexation of the Crimea declaration.