Putin Tells Hollande, Merkel That Kiev Must Lift Donbass Blockade

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the urgent need for the Ukrainian government to lift an economic blockade of the southeastern regions in phone talks with the French and German leaders, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

"Putin once again stressed the need for the soonest lifting of a blockade on the region by Kiev and the adoption of urgent measures to address the social and economic problems of the population of Donbass as stipulated in the Minsk set of measures," the Kremlin said.

In late January, following the escalation of tensions in the southeastern part of the country, a group of former participants of Ukraine's military operation in Donbass, including several lawmakers, blocked traffic on several segments of freight rail lines running from the territories uncontrolled by Kiev. The blockade led to irregularities in supplies of anthracite coal from Donbas, subsequently leading to power shortages in Ukraine, and prompted Kiev to declare an energy emergency.

On March 16, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko enacted the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to sever all transport connection with the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR).

The Donbass conflict erupted in April 2014 as a local counter-reaction to the West-sponsored Maidan coup in Kiev that had toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in February. Residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions held independence referendums and proclaimed the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Kiev has since been conducting a military operation, encountering stiff local resistance.

In February 2015, Kiev forces and Donbass independence supporters signed a peace agreement in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in Donbass, as well as constitutional reforms that would give a special status to the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Despite the agreement brokered by the Normandy Four states, the ceasefire regime is regularly violated, with both sides accusing each other of multiple breaches, undermining the terms of the accord.