Kremlin says Minsk agreements failure was precursor to Ukraine conflict
- This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine
MOSCOW, Dec 11 (Reuters) – Russia’s concerns about the Minsk agreements being ignored was the precursor to Moscow launching what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine, Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Sunday.
President Vladimir Putin this week bemoaned the failure to implement the Minsk agreements – ceasefire and constitutional reform deals between Kyiv and Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine brokered in 2014 and 2015 by Russia, France and Germany, at the outset of the conflict with Ukraine.
In Other Developments:
* Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about starting work on exporting other food products and commodities through the Black Sea grain corridor, Erdogan’s office said on Sunday.Bilateral ties between Ankara and Moscow, as well as energy and the fight against terrorism, were also discussed in the call, according to a readout from the Turkish presidency.
* All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said on Saturday.
ODESA GRAIN EXPORTS
* Traders have no plans to suspend grain shipments from Ukraine’s Odesa Black Sea ports due to the latest Russian attack on the region’s energy system, Agriculture Minister Mykola Solky said.
CONFLICT
Ukraine attacked occupied Melitopol, a strategically located city in the country’s southeast, on Saturday evening. The Russian-installed authorities said a missile attack killed two people and injured 10, while the exiled mayor of the city said scores of “invaders” were killed.
* Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.
DIPLOMACY, CULTURE
* Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to conquer parts of Ukraine and shows no restraint in his brutality, but it is still important to keep contacts open in case a moment arrives to end the war, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
* Russia wants to turn Ukraine into a “dependent dictatorship” like Belarus, the wife of jailed Belarusian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Byalyatski said upon receiving the prize on his behalf, speaking his words.
* Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, freed in a prisoner swap for U.S. basketball starBrittney Griner, said he wished her good luck on the tarmac in Abu Dhabi where they were exchanged on Thursday.
ECONOMY
* A dozen countries including Belgium, Italy, Poland and Slovenia have made a push to “significantly” lower a planned European Union cap on gas prices, as the bloc struggles to strike a deal on the measure.
* The Russian-installed administration of Ukraine’s Kherson region said it had begun changing locally circulated Ukrainian hryvnia currency into Russian roubles, with hryvnia circulation in Moscow-controlled areas of the region to end on Jan. 1.
