MOSCOW - The administration of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) is ready to sit down at the negotiation table in the format of the contact group in Minsk if the mediators initiate such a meeting.
“If a third party initiates it, we are ready for consultations in the format of the contact group in Minsk tomorrow. However, it would be the most effective to hold such a meeting after the elections, both here and in Ukraine,” Andriy Purhin, first deputy prime minister of the DPR, told Interfax.
The parliamentary elections in Ukraine are scheduled to be held on Oct. 26. The elections in the DPR are scheduled for Nov. 2.
Purhin said it is difficult to conduct dialogue in a situation of the election campaign in Ukraine.
“A lot of emotional statements are now being made before the Ukrainian parliamentary elections, there is a lot of ‘fascist’ hysteria to draw as many voters as possible. Of course, it is better to have dialogue after the elections, and it’s better to do it after some time has passed and the situation has calmed down. We, for our part, will hold our own elections and we will be able to talk to our opponents with a mandate from our voters,” Purhin said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a recent phone conversation spoke about the expediency of holding the next meeting of the contact group on Ukraine in the near future.
