Failure of September Minsk accords - Belarus readies next round of talks on Ukraine
Belarus is in stand-by mode for any activities related to the negotiations on the Ukrainian crisis, spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry Dzmitry Mironchyk told at a press briefing.
“We reaffirm our commitment to provide all kinds of assistance to ensure that the peace process in Ukraine should become irreversible and irrevocable,” state-owned news agency BelTA quotes Mr Mironchyk as saying.
When asked about the possible next round of talks, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said there is no yet accurate information on that. Names of its delegates are not revealed as well.
“The Belarusian side considers it a priority task to continue and successfully finish the peace process, the start to which was given in Minsk,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said. He also noted that the agreements reached in the Belarusian capital should certainly be respected.
But the ceasefire signed Sept. 5 in Minsk turns out to be fragile: hundreds of people have been killed since then.
The Minsk accords stipulated that Donetsk and Luhansk would gain special status, military engagements would cease and an “all-for-all” prisoner swap would be organised. Both sides in the Ukrainian conflict accused each other of tearing up a peace deal.
Kyiv essentially has no control over rebel authorities in the east, who held their own elections on November, 2. President Petro Poroshenko called on Ukraine’s parliament to recall a law giving special status to Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
