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Putin’s aide and US envoy for Ukraine may meet again in 2017

The parties decided to continue the work to bring their positions closer

PRAGUE, November 16./TASS/. A new meeting of Russian president’s Aide Vladislav Surkov and US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker is not ruled out this year, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told TASS on Thursday.

"A recent meeting of Surkov and Volker in Belgrade has not shut down the possibility of further contacts, further discussion on settlement prospects," the diplomat said. "Certainly, these contacts will continue, and I would not rule out the possibility of a new meeting before the end of the year," Karasin said.

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The most recent meeting of Surkov and Volker focusing on peace settlement in Donbass was held in Belgrade on November 13.

"We thoroughly discussed the Russian initiative on the deployment of a UN mission to Ukraine," Surkov said after talks.

At the meeting the US envoy presented proposals concerning the Russian-drafted resolution. "Our American friends presented their proposals concerning our Security Council draft resolution, which contained 29 paragraphs."

"Our delegation came to the conclusion that three of them were acceptable. Of course, it’s not much. But three is not a zero number. It’s better than a zero number," the Kremlin aide added. According to Surkov, the parties decided to continue the work to bring their positions closer.

This was a third meeting between the Russian and US representatives held in 2017. Surkov and Volker earlier held talks in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on August 21 and in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on October 7.

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