Self-proclaimed Donbas republic leaders should take part in Minsk talks - Kuchma
KYIV. Jan 30 (Interfax) - Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma insists that the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR), i.e. Oleksandr Zakharchenko and Ihor Plotnytsky, should take part in negotiations of the trilateral contact group for settling the crisis in Donbas in order for some decisions to be made.
"Our position is clear and unambiguous. First, some addendum to those memorandums could be signed at this final meeting, but Zakharchenko and Plotnytsky should be there as those who signed those documents and who have some powers. As for [Denis] Pushilin and [Vladyslav] Deineho [the DPR and LPR envoys to the Minsk talks], experts should work with them," Kuchma told journalists in Kyiv on Friday.
Ukraine's position in the negotiations regarding the implementation of the agreements reached in Minsk in September 2014 remains unchanged, he said.
Kuchma officially represents Ukraine in the trilateral contact group talks in Minsk. Russia is represented by Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov and the OSCE by Heidi Tagliavini. Kuchma was among those who signed the Minsk agreements in September 2014, which stipulate a ceasefire, the pullback of heavy weapons from the contact line, and exchanges of captives.