KIEV, August 4 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during a phone conversation with his Belarussian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, expressed hope for positive results in trilateral talks in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, the Ukrainian president’s website said in a statement on Monday.
“Petro Poroshenko thanked Alexander Lukashenko for assisting July 31 Minsk talks, which involved Ukraine’s second President Leonid Kuchma, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov and an OSCE official. The head of state expressed hope that the trilateral consultations will continue and prompt particular results,” the statement said.
According to Poroshenko’s website, Lukashenko assured the Ukrainian leader that good relations with its neighbor Kiev are a key priority for Minsk, and that both presidents have agreed to regular cooperation on bilateral and multilateral levels.
Earlier on Monday, Lukashenko’s press service said in a statement that during a phone conversation the two leaders paid particular attention to the issue of supplying oil products from Belarus to Ukraine, and Minsk expressed its readiness to help Ukraine’s economy by selling oil products.
The envoys from Kiev, Russia and the OSCE met on July 31 in Minsk to discuss the Ukrainian crisis.
The sides have agreed, in particular, to cease hostilities along an access route to the Malaysian plane crash site in East Ukraine established earlier by international inspectors.
The Trilateral Contact Group on the Ukrainian crisis is to proceed with the discussions this week.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow welcomes Belarus' move to host the talks.
