Russia: Kiev's failure to implement Minsk means West will prolong sanctions - Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that "the failure of Kiev to implement the Minsk agreements means that the West will have to prolong the policy of sanctions against Russia," in a press conference in Moscow, Tuesday.
"More and more of our foreign partners are beginning to understand that they are in a trap created by themselves. They said that they would lift the sanctions when Russia implements the Minsk agreements. They understood, and I think it was a misinterpretation or 'slip of the tongue', that Kiev heard it very fast and clearly interpreted it as an indulgence which allows them to ignore the Minsk agreements," said Lavrov.
Russia's top diplomat also said that a fresh meeting of the Normandy Quartet could take place as soon as February 8 but that the final date is yet to be agreed.
He went on, pointing to the fact that Ukraine is the party that can solve issues related to the conflict and the implementation of the Minsk agreements. "The fact that the West understands the situation lacks prospects when everyone pretends that it is Russia that should implement Minsk agreements and Ukraine can do nothing - not change the Constitution, not to give Donbass special status, not to hold an amnesty, not to organise elections together with Donbass, everyone understands that no one but Ukraine can solve these issues," he explained.