Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko views the Minsk format of negotiations on resolving the situation in southeastern Ukraine as the most acceptable one, which he made clear at a joint press conference with US Vice President Joseph Biden in Kyiv on Oct. 21.
“We have come to an absolute agreement that the most acceptable basic format for ensuring a peace process is the Minsk negotiating format, a trilateral contact group in which we should implement several key provisions of the Minsk peace plan,” Poroshenko said at a joint press conference with Biden in Kyiv on Friday.
He noted that these key provisions involved immediate ceasefire, the creation of a buffer zone, the immediate withdrawal of the Russian-led militants from the front line, the closure of borders, the withdrawal of military and armored vehicles and the immediate start of a political process through the holding of local elections according to the Ukrainian legislation in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Ukraine is abiding by all obligations it took on in signing the Minsk protocol and memorandum, Poroshenko said.
“We are coming to a common opinion that this will be a basic format that all parties must observe. And we will do all we can to make this happen,” he said.
