KIEV, January 6 (Sputnik) — The trilateral Contact Group on the Ukrainian crisis, comprising representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, could meet in Kiev in the upcoming days, said the head of the policy and communications department of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
“I hope that from all capitals there will be a clear political signal that we are interested in the trilateral Contact Group to meet in Kiev in the coming days and hold consultations with representatives of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” Alexei Makeev said in an interview with the 112 Ukraine TV channel.
According to the official, Monday’s talks on Ukraine in Berlin were “technical” and mainly aimed at coordinating positions before further talks. The Berlin meeting was attended by representatives of the so-called Normandy quartet, namely Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine.
The group was established in early June when Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met in Normandy to discuss the Ukrainian crisis.
“Agreements in principle have been reached on how the final document may look, and there were quite many controversial parts that were accepted by all parties,” Makeev said following the Monday meeting.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian media reported that a new Normandy format meeting could take place in Berlin on January 8 and 9.
Talks on Ukrainian reconciliation have been conducted in four formats – Normandy, Minsk (Ukraine, Russia, OSCE), Geneva (Ukraine, Russia, the United States, the European Union) and Weimar (Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France, Poland).
In September, Kiev and independence supporters in Ukraine’s eastern breakaway regions agreed on a ceasefire deal during talks in Minsk, though both sides have subsequently accused each other of violating the truce.
