Kyiv asks Belarus to become platform for talks on Ukrainian crisis, Minsk agrees
MINSK. July 30 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has accepted Kyiv's offer to make Minsk a platform for negotiations on the Ukrainian crisis.
"Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had a phone conversation on July 29. The conversation was on the Ukrainian side's initiative," the Belarusian presidential press service told Interfax.
"The presidents discussed a number of vital issues that present mutual interest," the press service has reported.
"The Ukrainian president asked the Belarusian president to make Belarus a platform for negotiations involving all relevant parties on the solution to the Ukrainian crisis. Alexander Lukashenko agreed with that initiative," the press service said.
At the same time, the Ukrainian presidential press service specified that Poroshenko has asked his Belarusian counterpart to help arrange this meeting on July 31.
"Petro Poroshenko has announced his appeal to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko for assistance in arranging a meeting in Minsk on July 31 of the trilateral contact group on the settlement of the situation in Donbas, including second president of [independent] Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, Russian Ambassador Mikhail Zurabov and an OSCE representative," the Ukrainian presidential press service reported.
The Ukrainian side suggests that two issues be added on the contact group's agenda, namely the release of all hostages held by militants and ensuring access of international experts to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, the press service said.