Poroshenko not intent on direct talks with Donbas leaders
KYIV. Sept 10 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he has no intention of talking to the leaders of the self-proclaimed entities in the east of the country.
"What were they trying to impose on us? Sit down with Zakharchenko and Plotnitsky, talk to them, while we watch and advise you occasionally... I will not hold talks with the leaders of militants and terrorists just because some home-grown politicos suggested that I should," the president said in an interview with the Prime Time with Miroslava Gongadze program aired on the First National television channel on Thursday.
He added that that it is this scenario that Russia is seeking in order to show that there is a civil war in Ukraine and that Russia has nothing to do with it.
"No, this is a Russian aggression against a free, independent Ukrainian state. And so a format has been built from the start: Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE as a mediator. This format is called the Trilateral Contact Group," Poroshenko said.