Russia has been interested in the implementation of the Minsk agreements all this time because the document was the result of a compromise, Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists on Tuesday.

The president added that the Minsk agreements no longer existed, TASS reported.

"We were interested in the implementation of this Package of Measures because it is the result of compromise," the head of state said. He reminded that he was among the authors of this document on behalf of Russia.

The Ukrainian authorities publicly stated that they would not implement the Minsk agreements, Russia could not tolerate the genocide of the people of Donbas any longer.

The agreement concerning eastern Ukraine was "killed off long before Russia's decision" to recognize Ukraine's separatist regions, he also added.

The Russian leader said that Europe could not force Kyiv to implement Minsk-2, so there was no other way out but to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics.