You're reading: Contact group meting in Minsk may be cancelled due to absence of Russian representative

A meeting of the trilateral contact group on the settlement of the situation in Donbas region in Minsk next week may be cancelled because there has been no confirmation regarding the participation of Russia's representative Boris Gryzlov, a source close to the negotiations told Interfax-Ukraine.

“As we know, Gryzlov has not confirmed his participation. Thus, today we can say that it is Russia that drags out the Minsk process,” the source said.

Earlier, Darka Olifer, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s representative in the trilateral contact group Leonid Kuchma, reported quoting Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Envoy Martin Sajdik that Gryzlov will not take part in the meeting.

A ministerial meeting in the ‘Normandy Four’ format (Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia) may take place at the end of next week.