Russian Federation recently bolstered its military forces in Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
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Germany is urging Russian Federation and Ukraine to reduce tensions related to the annexed peninsula of Crimea as both countries dispute the circumstances over an alleged attack.
Ukraine has denied any involvement in or knowledge of such a sabotage plot.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his talks with German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday discussed the possibility of restoring dialogue in the Normandy format in the wake of the recently foiled terrorist attacks in Crimea, TASS reports.
Speaking to reporters after the August 15 meeting, the two ministers affirmed their support for the Minsk process aimed at resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
“The killing and dying in Aleppo must come to an end”, said Steffen Seibert.
“Weapons must go silent to make sure that the population is provided with everything necessary”, said Steinmeier.
Insisting it would fulfill its side of the bargain, Russia’s Sergei Lavrov said Kyiv had to also honour its obligations.
“We analyzed the prospects for a possible revival of talks in the Normandy format”, Lavrov said, referring to negotiations around the Minsk deal which Putin has said were not worth having for the time being.
Lavrov made clear Russian Federation was not ready to drop allegations that it had caught Ukrainian saboteurs planning a bombing campaign against Crimea.
Senior Russian and United States military officials have held Geneva negotiations on Aleppo and on restoring an overall ceasefire, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said last Thursday.
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Moscow “is ready to give additional facts to its Western partners who are seriously interested that this is not repeated”, Lavrov said, insisting that the West should “exert influence on Kiev”.
