Russia stands for implementation of latest Minsk accord on Ukraine

Russia hopes that all parties to the recent Minsk agreement on the Ukraine crisis will observe the obligations they have assumed to peacefully settle the conflict, a Kremlin spokesman said Friday.

"Of course, we are hoping that all signatories will closely and thoroughly fulfill all obligations they have assumed," Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

However, he added, Moscow does not rule out the possibility that an agreed ceasefire would not come into force as intended.

"In theory, there is the probability that the Minsk agreement will be derailed," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Peskov as saying.

He said there is a potential risk that Ukrainian troops will try to break siege in fighting areas around the southeastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve, "even after the ceasefire comes into effect," thus violating the ceasefire regime.

According to Peskov, President Vladimir Putin has instructed military experts to analyze the situation in Debaltseve, where some 8,000 Ukrainian troops have reportedly been encircled by insurgents' militia, an allegation denied by Kiev.

Putin has been in constant contact with other participants in the latest round of Minsk talks under various formats, said the spokesman, stressing that Russia is only a "guarantor" of the settlement, but not a party in the conflict.

Russia is "obviously not a party that needs to take any actions" for the deal's implementation, Peskov said.

After 14-hour marathon talks in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, the leaders of Russia, German, France and Ukraine on Thursday signed a declaration saying they were strongly convinced that a peaceful settlement is the sole option for the settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

The negotiations also brought about a package of measures aimed at implementing last September's Minsk agreements, topped by an "unconditional and comprehensive" ceasefire in eastern Ukraine starting from Feb. 15. Endi