MINSK (Sputnik) — The Contact Group on Ukraine started on Tuesday a new round of consultations ahead of the much-anticipated Minsk summit in the so-called Normandy format, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
The Contact Group comprises representatives from Kiev, the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR), Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The current talks are held behind closed doors.
The Contact Group participants are not planning to make any statements for the press on the meeting results, a Belarusian foreign ministry official told journalists.
Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany are expected to meet on Wednesday in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, for crunch Ukrainian crisis resolution talks in the Normandy format.
Earlier on Tuesday the envoys from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, countries that comprise the Normandy format, held talks on the Ukrainian crisis in Berlin ahead of the Wednesday summit in Minsk.
A diplomatic source told RIA Novosti Tuesday that the creation of a demilitarized zone in eastern Ukraine will be a key topic of discussion during the upcoming meeting in Minsk.
He added that there are no plans to sign a final document on the results of Ukraine conflict resolution talks.
