Another Round of Talks on Ukraine Will Take Place in Minsk Today
The contact group on Ukraine will once again hold talks in Minsk.
According to Censor.NET citing Ukrinform, today's meeting will bring together representatives of Kyiv, the OSCE, Russia and the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.
It is expected that Ukraine will be represented by former President Leonid Kuchma, Russia - by Ambassador Mikhail Zurabov, and self-proclaimed DNR and LPR by Andrey Purgin and Alexey Karyakin.
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In the new round of negotiations, which will begin at approximately 2.00 p.m. (Kyiv time), the parties intend to move to specifics. At the previous meeting the parliamentarians only voiced their position and now they are planning to discuss them.
In particular, representatives of the DPR and LPR demand an end to the anti-terrorist operation, the holding of free local elections in the field and a special status for their territories.
In addition, the parties are trying to agree on the exchange of hostages under "all for all" formula.
President Poroshenko previously expressed hope for a positive outcome of today's talks, noting that he is "optimistic, but very cautious" about to the meeting.
The President stressed that this meeting may see the signing of the document, which calls for the gradual introduction of a peace plan, and the first item is a bilateral ceasefire. If the signing takes place, the implementation of the peace plan will be launched on the same day, Poroshenko noted.
