The proposed relocation of the Donbas negotiations from Minsk to Astana will hardly bring a positive or meaningful result right now, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.
“The Kazakh colleagues have already expressed our idea. In my personal view, it doesn’t work (…) If we have the substantiated understanding that the change of location will bring us something, we are ready to move anywhere, all the way to New Zealand (…) to any point where it will make sense,” Klimkin said at a press conference devoted to a review of Ukrainian diplomacy in 2017 and priorities for 2018 in Kyiv on Monday.
“But as a matter of fact, the problem of what is going on in Minsk is a problem on the part of Russia, the problem of reluctance to fulfill any of its commitments and the desire to twist around all the agreements: they wish to keep everything they have on occupied Donbas and then expand it onto all Ukraine,” he said.
“Minsk or Astana, or any other city is not a key issue,” Klimkin said.
However, if such relocation brings us a meaningful result, then it will be important, he said.
“There may be any options that will work. Now I can’t see how the relocation of the Minsk ground to Astana will add us a new positive result, if you will,” Klimkin said.
