MOSCOW - The date of the next meeting of the trilateral contact group for eastern Ukraine depends on Minsk and Russian mediators, Denys Pushylin, the self-proclaimed Donetsk people's republic (DPR) envoy to the Minsk talks, told the Donetsk news agency.
“Everything will depend on the initiators of the meeting, that is, Minsk and Russian representatives. We have not received any information from these parties so far,” Pushylin was quoted as saying.
The format of the second round of the talks is so far unknown, either, Pushylin said. “We so far have no information on the date of the second round of the negotiations. It is also unknown in what form they will be held and whether it is going to be with the contact group members’ personal involvement or using Internet technologies, like Skype,” Pushylin said.
The contact group on settling the situation in eastern Ukraine had negotiations in Minsk on Dec. 24. The date for the next meeting has not yet been announced.
Pushylin said on Dec. 26 that the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics had done all they could to prepare the next round of consultations but had still not received invitations to take part in them.
Meanwhile, Luhansk republic’s envoy in the Minsk talks Vladyslav Deineho suggested that the meeting could be held on Dec. 28 or 29.
Speaking to Interfax on Dec. 27, Deineho said the contact group could hold a Skype conference. “However, ideally, such a video conference would be not enough, and a personal meeting is necessary,” Deineho said.
