MOSCOW, July 3 (RIA Novosti) – An exact date and location for the next round of consultations of the three-party contact group on Ukraine have not been fixed yet, but Moscow insists the meetings should take place in Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Thursday.
“Everything included in the declaration is urgent. According to the declaration, the contact group should resume meetings no later than July 5. Negotiations are continuing right now to agree upon the logistics for the meetings,” Karasin said.
“So far there has been no news concerning the issue. Dates are being discussed,” the minister stressed.
Karasin also commented on recent media reports suggesting another meeting of the contact group should take place in Minsk, saying “Taking into account all the variants we have, it would be more logical to hold the meetings in Ukraine.”
Earlier on Wednesday, foreign ministers from Russia, Germany, Ukraine and France issued a joint declaration, which among other things, urges the resumption of the contact group’s work no later than July 5.
Representatives from Kiev, Ukraine’s eastern regions, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are taking part in the consultations.
Kiev and the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics have already met twice in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk for consultations on settling the crisis in the troubled regions.
The meetings were also attended by Russian ambassador Mikhail Zurabov, former President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, envoys from the OSCE, leader of the “Ukrainian Choice” movement Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Boroday and other officials.
