Ukraine ready for meeting in "Minsk format" - Kyiv
KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax) - Ukraine is ready for a meeting of the contact group on the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Valeriy Chaly, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, said.
"Ukraine is ready for a meeting of the three-party contact group. We expect the same from all participants," Chaly told a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.
Chaly said a meeting of the three-party contact group is an important element for settling the conflict in Ukraine. "There are some issues there that can be discussed now, and therefore we insist on it," Chaly said.
The negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine are being held in Minsk in the three-party format (Ukraine-OSCE-Russia) involving representatives of the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics. Ukraine is being represented in these negotiations by the country's second president, Leonid Kuchma.
On Wednesday, Kuchma said the next round of the negotiations in the "Minsk format" could take place next week. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said Belarus is ready to provide a negotiation platform to the contact group at any time.