Meetings in Minsk have translated into certain results, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told reporters after his talks with the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and European Union representatives, the Ukrainian presidential press service reported.
“Our main goal is peace. We demand resolute actions that will bring peace onto the Ukrainian land,” the president said.
The key issue of the meeting was the closing of the Ukrainian-Russian border to prevent the movement of armored vehicles, mercenaries and ammunition. The importance of consultations of border forces on the implementation of the given task was emphasized.
The president informed that consultations between the Chiefs of General Staff of Ukraine and Russia would have to begin following the negotiations.
“We have agreed that we will hold consultations through a trilateral contact group to speed up the transition to the bilateral ceasefire regime control of which will be carried out by representatives of the OSCE monitoring mission,” he informed.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton in turn said the main thing at the moment is peace, security, a ceasefire, and measures to ensure the security of the Ukrainian-Russian border. She informed that a ‘positive discussion’ had been held in the context of economic aspects of the implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
Besides, Poroshenko emphasized that in the course of all meetings in Minsk, the parties had discussed the implementation of his peace plan for the settlement of the situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. “We insisted that first of all it is necessary to reach an agreement to ensure the freedom of Ukrainian citizens who are held captive illegally. The logic of the peace plan has been finally supported by all heads of state,” he said.
The president said the parties had agreed with the need to boost the activity of the trilateral contact group.
“In the context of the Association Agreement, the parties agreed to start consultations at the level of experts that will ensure minimization of consequences of the given agreement for neighboring countries,” the presidential administration’s press service said.
“The president also informed that negotiations on energy issues with participation of Ministers of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine, Russia and the EU were scheduled for September 6. Ukraine will inform the EU leaders in Brussels on Aug. 30 on further actions on the implementation of the Agreement,” the press service added.
