DPR Insists December 12 Earliest Time for Contact Group Meeting

DONETSK, December 7 (Sputnik) — Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) insists on holding new Contact Group meeting on Ukraine no earlier than December 12, Deputy Chairman of DPR Parliament Denis Pushilin said Sunday.

“We insist on holding talks no earlier than on the 12th [of December], 9th is not acceptable. A lot of questions accumulated, which require approval of the authorities, they require elaboration, otherwise they simply won’t be solved,” Pushilin told journalists.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko confirmed to RIA Novosti that the next meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine will be held on December 9 in Minsk.

The Contact Group on the Ukrainian crisis comprises representatives from Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's republics (DPR, LPR), Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Last week, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced that the next meeting on the situation in eastern Ukraine will be held in Minsk on December 9. However, the DPR has suggested holding the meeting on December 12, while LPR head Igor Plotnitsky told RIA Novosti on Saturday that the final date for the talks has not been set yet.

In April, Kiev forces launched a military operation against independence supporters in eastern Ukraine, who refused to recognize the legitimacy of a new government that came to power following a February coup. According to UN data, the confrontation has claimed the lives of over 4,300 people.

On September 5, the sides reached a ceasefire agreement at a Contact Group meeting in Minsk. Since then, both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce.