Kuchma to Lukashenka: Minsk should remain venue for Donbas talks


Another meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine has kicked off in Minsk.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Leonid Kuchma, a former Ukrainian leader and representative of the country in TCG, exchanged warm greetings at the beginning of the meeting.

“The role and place of Minsk in the Trilateral Contact Group is of paramount importance. You must be well aware of the fact that some people pushed for transferring the negotiating venue from Minsk to any other place. But that’s nonsense,” Leonid Kuchma said.

According to Kuchma, he counts on Belarus’ assistance in tackling Ukrainian problems.

In turn, the Belarusian president mentioned the development of bilateral cooperation with Ukraine at the meeting.

“You are still the president of Ukraine (there are no former presidents). I want to tell you that the officially registered bilateral trade, which is basis of our relations, made up $5.5 billion that last year,” state-run news agency BelTA quotes him.

On June 3, the incumbent Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Leonid Kuchma would again lead the Ukrainian side in TCG on the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Donbas.

On May 24, the Ukrainian leader held his first meeting with the representatives of the Trilateral Contact Group. He was briefed on the process of negotiations and the current state of affairs. One of the most urgent problems is prisoners’ swap between the Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists.

The Ukrainian side has repeatedly stressed the need to relocate the venue for negotiations. In 2018, Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev claimed that it was the US leader Donald Trump who proposed to choose another place for holding the talks on the Ukrainian issue. In turn, Belarusian Foreign Minister Uladzimir Makey said that it did not matter where the meetings took place.

News
Ukraine MP proposes to abandon Minsk as platform for peace talks
2017.12.21 06:19

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