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Kiev confirms participation in Normandy Format political directors’ talks

The sides are expected to meet on November 26 to discuss peacekeeping mission

KIEV, November 22. /TASS/. Kiev has confirmed its participation in a meeting of the Normandy Four political directors, scheduled for November 26, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

"Consultations of the Normandy Four at the level of political directors of the foreign ministries of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia will be held in Berlin on November 26 to discuss the start of a peacekeeping mission in Donbass," the press service said. "Kiev will be represented at the consultations by Foreign Ministry’s political director Alexey Makeyev," it added.

However, the ministry stressed that Ukraine insists that the peacekeeping mission be deployed to the whole territory in Donbass that is not under Kiev’s control, including the uncontrolled section of the Ukrainian-Russian border. "In the best interests of restoring peace in Donbass and ensuring the safety of civilians, Ukraine together with its partners proceeds from the need to deploy a full-scale mission to the whole territory of Donbass, including the uncontrolled section of the Russian-Ukrainian state border," the ministry said.

In September 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin came out with an initiative to deploy a United Nations mission to the contact line in Donbass to ensure safety and security of OSCE monitors. He stressed that such a mission could be deployed only with the consent from the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Lugansk. Later, he said the mission could be deployed in other Donbass regions visited by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. Kiev insists a UN peacekeeping mission be deployed to entire Donbass, including the border section with Russia.

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