Russia: Ukraine's banning of the St. George's ribbon will postpone the implementation of the Minsk agreements
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs belives that banning St. George's ribbon in Ukraine will postpone the implementation of the Minsk agreements. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova at a briefing in Moscow, UNIAN reports.
"Regarding the ban on the distribution and manufacture of St. George's Ribbons, you know perfectly well that this will not affect the Russian Federation in any way but it will have a huge negative impact on internal processes in Ukraine itself," Zakharova said.
"This is an additional element of inciting hatred and enmity, making it impossible to reunite people in a number of regions. This will provide more reasons to postpone the implementation of the Minsk agreements for an even longer time," she added.
It was on May 16 that the Verkhovna Rada introduced a penalty in the form of administrative arrest for up to 15 days for the manufacture and propaganda of the St. George's Ribbon.
On May 17, deputies from the Opposition Bloc faction, Nestor Shufrich and Dmitry Shentsev registered a draft resolution on abolishing the voting results for this bill.
On May 21, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised to introduce the imposition of administrative responsibility for the manufacture and propaganda of the St. George's Ribbon.
On May 25, the Verkhovna Rada refused to abolish the results of voting for Bill Number 2987, which introduces the administrative responsibility that Poroshenko promised.