Kiev categorically refused to return to Minsk to work offline – Russian Envoy – Russian Politics & Diplomacy

MOSCOW, September 15. / TASS /. The Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contract Group for the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in Eastern Ukraine refused to resume face-to-face talks in Minsk, Russian envoy Boris Gryzlov said on Wednesday after the last meeting. group videoconference.

“We support the intention of the negotiating parties to return to personal meetings,” he told reporters. “But Kiev categorically refused to return to work in Minsk.”

Gryzlov stressed that before the pandemic, Minsk “met all the requirements to ensure full participation of all parties in the Minsk format, especially Ukraine and separate areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions”. “It is important to formulate specific proposals to remedy this situation,” added the envoy.

The Russian delegation has repeatedly stressed that resuming face-to-face meetings will increase the effectiveness of the talks. Almost all tangible results of the talks between Kiev and Donbass have been achieved through direct personal dialogue, including exchanges of detainees, disengagement of troops and equipment, and ceasefires.

However, Kiev says the talks can no longer be held in Minsk because Ukraine did not recognize Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s victory in the August 2020 presidential election to echo the West’s actions.

Minsk last held face-to-face interviews in March 2020. Since then all contact has been via video conference due to the coronavirus pandemic.