KIEV, August 19 (RIA Novosti) – The coming two weeks will be decisive for the peaceful settlement in Ukraine, the Kiev government wants to resolve the conflict through means of diplomacy, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s administration said Tuesday.
“I think that the coming two weeks will be decisive for transforming war into peace. The telephone diplomacy is giving way to direct contacts” Valeriy Chaliy told reporters, commenting on the forthcoming talks due in Minsk and Brussels on August 26 and August 30, respectively.
Earlier the same day, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's press service said officials from Ukraine, the European Union and the so-called 'Eurasian Trio' (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan) will meet in Minsk on August 26 to discuss a number of urgent political and economic issues, including Ukraine's European integration, energy security and the stabilization of the situation in Donbas.
The press service also said Poroshenko had accepted the invitation of President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to visit Brussels on August 30. In addition to the invitation to Brussels, Barroso and Poroshenko discussed by telephone the issues of granting Ukraine the third wave of EU macro-financial assistance.
In September, the EU may decide to allocate additional resources to improve the living conditions of the displaced population from Donbas and for those who remain there. The European Commission has already decided to provide 2.5 million euro (about $3.3 million) for the needs of eastern Ukraine and its displaced population. However, according to preliminary estimates of the United Nations, the most pressing problems of immigrants alone will require some $33 million till the end of the year.
