Interfax: Disarming east Ukrainian militia not priority, tackle causes of conflict first – Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. June 5 (Interfax) – Disarming militia fighters in east Ukraine is not the first priority, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

“What they should be doing now is not treating symptoms or knocking down the temperature but looking for the origins of the conflict, which are fairly obvious, and deal with them. Then it will be easier to disarm the armed groups that are seeking to defend the interests of the ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking population in southeast Ukraine. The population that is being subjected to barbaric attacks, airstrikes,” Ryabkov said in an interview with Interfax.

“So disarming the militiamen is not the first priority,” the deputy minister said.

“Kyiv must stop the punitive operation and begin the real process of settling the crisis, involving, among other things, the release of political prisoners and the launch of a political dialogue in accordance with the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) roadmap,” Ryabkov said.