RUSSIA RULES OUT CEASEFIRE WITHOUT AGREEMENT ON ROOT CAUSES OF UKRAINE CONFLICT

MOSCOW, SEPTEMBER 17 /SRNA-RIA Novosti/ – Russia will not agree to a ceasefire until the parameters of an agreement addressing the root causes of the Ukraine crisis are settled, Russia's permanent representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe /OSCE/, Dmitry Polyansky, said.

"Our conditions for halting military operations are well known and have not changed," Polyansky told a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council. Polyansky said Ukraine's European backers were going ever further in what he described as their blind support for Kyiv, while ignoring crimes against the Russian people. He also warned that the European Union was strengthening its military capabilities and openly preparing for a possible war with Russia. "Over the past month and a half, NATO and the EU have taken new steps that carry the risk of the hybrid war against Russia developing into a conventional one," Polyansky said. He added that Moscow had grounds to interpret Britain's activities related to drone deliveries to Ukraine as direct participation by London in the war against Russia.