Kharkiv region - The next meeting of the trilateral contact group on the situation in Donbas is scheduled for Dec. 9 in Minsk, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
“A preliminary agreement that the meeting will be held in Minsk on Dec. 9 has been reached,” he said at a meeting with servicemen at an airfield in Chuhuyiv, the Kharkiv region, on Saturday, Dec. 6.
He said that the schedule of the implementation of Minsk agreements, in particular, ceasefire, the removal of heavy armament and the organization of control by OSCE will be discussed at the meeting.
“The task Ukraine sets is the approval of the schedule of the implementation of Minsk agreements. This means that on Dec. 9 the Silence Day was seen and during 30 days we could reach the line mentioned in the Minsk protocol. This is to be accompanied by the removal of heavy armament, artillery and military equipment and the start of the effective use of the monitoring and verification function of the OSCE to ensure permanent ceasefire. This is to be accompanied with the preparations for the political process of organizing local election in Donbas,” the president said.
Poroshenko said that the outcome of illegal election held in Donbas on Nov. 2 is to be canceled and this is to become the start of a political dialog.
He also said that he discussed the Minsk talks with French President Francois Hollande who is to visit Russia on his way back from Kazakhstan to make a short visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
