(ANSA) - UDINE - ''Most countries involved in talks, France, Germany, US and Russia too, all of us agree that we need to fulfill Minsk agreements, which were achieved some time ago and are the most prominent tool against the ongoing crisis in the Donbass region'', said Andrey Kelin, Russian director of the Department for European Cooperatoion at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kelin spoke with ANSA New Europe on the sidelines of the 13th edition of the International Forum of the Aquileia Euroregion ''Europe Trembles'', recently held in Udine and organised by Mitteleuropa Association. ''These agreements have two sides - Kelin continued, talking about tensions between Russia and Ukraine -; the security side, which means that we will have to divide forces, withdraw weapons and troops, and decide upon lines of demarcation. But there is also the political side - he said -, which is supposed to guarantee normal living standards to Russian speaking population in the Donbass region, that is several million people''.

According to Kelin, ''we need political guarantees for those people, there should be a constitution amendment to give this region an autonomous status and democratic elections should be held; those who hold the reins of power should be legally elected. Anyaway - Kelin added - in order to enable people participate in these elections, amnesty should be declared by Kiev authorities for all Russians living there, otherwise many people may go to trial and the whole situation will be very difficult. None of these three conditions are guaranteed by Kiev for now''. Kelin underlined that parliament and government in Kiev said ''they are willing to fulfill the security side of Minsk agreements, but they are not going to implement the political side. Therefore, an international effort is necessary to establish a roadmap which combines the political side with security, because, in my opinion, one cannot work without the other. If you only fulfill the security side, at any time armed force can violate the agreement and invade territories (from both sides), and the situation will get worse''. According to Russian diplomat, ''the political side is necessary to overcome this crisis. Moreover, Minsk agreements - he added - provide some tools to safeguard language and culture of Russian people living in the Donbass, starting with Russian as language of instruction. Unfortunately - Kelin commented - Kiev's parliament have passed an education bill that simply rules out the possibility for minorities to educate kids in their own mother tongue. This is clearly against Minsk agreements. A new law is about to be approved, regarding the re-integration of Donbass.

This, again, is against Minsk agreements, and gives a legal basis for future military intervention. I am much worried - he concluded - about these backward steps''. (ANSA).