Minsk talks over Ukrainian settlement not hopeless - Gryzlov
MOSCOW. Aug 16 (Interfax) - Russia's authorized representative in the Contact Group on Ukraine, Boris Gryzlov, said that claims about the hopelessness of the Minsk negotiating process were unfounded.
"For several months we have been hearing words that the Minsk process is dying. This is a value judgment. The reality is that some forces, the Ukrainian party of war, want to kill it off," Gryzlov said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
Kyiv continues pushing for military resolution of the Donbas conflict, he said.
"It is them who penned the tough bill on reintegration oriented towards a military solution. Such intentions naturally prompt Donbas to resist further," Gryzlov said.
He said he hoped that the conflict will be settled politically.
"I am very hopeful that the participants in the process, with the support from representatives from other countries as well, will be able to prove to Kyiv the need to finally make steps towards a political settlement, sign the amnesty law, pass an elections law, regulate a special status for Donbas as part of the constitutional reform, [and] will be able to prove to Kyiv the need to comply with its obligations," Gryzlov said.
