Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s telephone conversation with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier
On August 14, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke over the phone with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the initiative of the German side. They continued their thorough discussion of the developments in southeastern Ukraine in the context of the implementation of the February 12, 2015 Minsk agreements.
Both ministers voiced serious concern over the continued violation of the ceasefire by the conflicting sides. This leads to an increase in the number of casualties, including civilian losses and the destruction of civilian facilities, and threatens further escalation of the conflict.
Mr Lavrov and Mr Steinmeier voiced their support for the implementation of measures on the demilitarisation of Shirokino in the Normandy format and heavy weapons withdrawal as soon as possible. Mr Lavrov expressed concern over Kiev’s unconstructive approach to the implementation of these measures.
The ministers confirmed the need for the unconditional implementation of the entire package of the aforementioned Minsk agreements, including the issues of constitutional reform, the special status of Donbass and the holding of local elections in Donbass via direct dialogue of Kiev with Donetsk and Lugansk.
The ministers placed emphasis on the need to continue the talks under the auspices of the Contact Group and its working subgroups and active international monitoring of this process to ensure its strict compliance with the aforementioned Minsk agreements.
More than 60 people were killed and some 200 wounded as a result of a truck bomb explosion at a crowded market in northeastern Baghdad on August 13. There are children among the dead and the wounded. The “Islamic State” group has claimed responsibility for the terrorist act.
We are pleased to welcome your delegation to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We have for a long time been inviting representatives of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces to hold a dialogue in order to think together about ways of helping the Syrian people. We are glad that this meeting has taken place. We are meeting at a time when the region is being exposed to growing threats, primarily the terrorist threat.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan has notified the Embassy of the Russian Federation on the Uzbek authorities’ plans to relocate the monument to Alexander Pushkin to one of the central streets or squares of Tashkent as part of the ongoing architectural renovation of the Uzbek capital.
On August 10, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan upon the Russian side’s initiative.
On August 7, Norway issued a temporary instruction on the deportation from the Svalbard Archipelago of people included in the UN Security Council’s sanction lists and individuals whose international travel is restricted. Apparently, the latter category includes those who are covered by the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions.
Resolution 2235 (2015)
Adopted by the Security Council at its 7501st meeting, on 7 August 2015
(Regarding the investigation of chemical weapons use in Syria)
On August 6, at least 13 people were killed and several others were wounded by an explosion in a mosque in Abha, the main city of the Saudi Asir Province.
On August 6, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended a ministerial meeting of the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the 22nd Session of the ASEAN Regional Forum on security (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur.
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