REUTERS
It was earlier reported that the issue of lifting the blockade will be discussed at the Minsk talks on Donbas settlement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Minsk Agreement requires full restoration of relations between Donbas and the rest of Ukraine.
To this end, Putin said at a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Ukraine needs to cancel the decree of former President Petro Poroshenko on the "blockade of the region," RIA Novosti reports.
"The Minsk Agreements require, for example, a full restoration of the economic relations between Donbas and Ukraine. It is necessary, first of all, to cancel the decree of former President Poroshenko on this blockade. It directly contradicts the Minsk Agreements," Putin said.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the new Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky must show "political will" to end the war in Donbas.
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Russia has been denying its involvement in the war in eastern Ukraine, including military and financial support to militants and deploying regular army units.
Earlier, Vladimir Putin in an interview with Corriere della Sera said his meeting with Zelensky was possible if the Ukrainian president "starts carrying out his election promises, including if he engages in direct contact with his compatriots in Donbas and stops labeling them 'separatists,' if the Ukrainian authorities implement the Minsk Agreements rather than ignore them.
In response to the statement, advisor to Zelensky's political team Mykyta Poturaiev, said that the Ukrainian president's words about "separatists" referred to "Kremlin puppets," leaders of the so-called "DPR" and "LPR" terrorist groups, not Donbas residents.