MOSCOW. Feb 18 (Interfax) - Russia is worried about reports on a steep rise in the number of attacks along the Donbas contact line, while Kyiv is sabotaging ceasefire agreements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"We are extremely worried about the recent events, which happened yesterday and the day before yesterday, and the steep increase in the number of attacks with weapons banned by the Minsk Agreements," Lavrov said at a joint press conference with the Greek foreign minister in response to a question about the current situation on the Donbas contact line.
"For years, the Kyiv regime has been flagrantly violating its obligations and, every time additional measures are approved to ensure the ceasefire implementation, they are sabotaged by Kyiv," he said.
An agreement on additional measures to ensure the ceasefire implementation was reached in 2020, and Kyiv, Donetsk and Luhansk pledged not to return fire but to inform their commands in the event of shooting incidents, Lavrov said.
"It was agreed to give relevant orders. Donetsk and Luhansk did so. Ukraine refused to do it for almost a year and did not honor the agreement I've mentioned until it was forced to issue the respective order with the assistance of Germany and France," he said.
As soon as the order was given, the Ukrainian military said, "commanders on the ground had the right to open fire at their discretion and would continue to do so," Lavrov said.