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Anti-Russian sanctions

Poroshenko calls for soonest possible start of Contact Group talks

The Contact Group on Ukraine comprises a representative of the OSCE, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, and former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma

KIEV, August 30 /ITAR-TASS/. Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko said on Saturday the situation in the south-east of his country had reached a critical point and called for the soonest possible beginning of talks within the trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine.

“The situation in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions has reached the point where ‘nothing can be changed’, and therefore the sides must being negotiations,” the presidential press service said. “The resumption of the work of the trilateral Contact Group will facilitate effective implementation of the peace plan for Donbas and the negotiated settlement of the situation.”

“All this [the fighting] must be stopped and diplomatic negotiations must begin,” Poroshenko told a news briefing in Brussels.

The Contact Group on Ukraine comprises a representative of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, and former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.

“The trilateral Contact group will meet on Monday” to discuss, among other things, the work of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission on the Ukrainian-Russian border and a ceasefire format, Poroshenko said.

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a telephone conversation with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, stressed the importance of bringing officials from Kiev, south-eastern regions of Ukraine, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Russia to Minsk for the Contact Group consultations.

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Sanctions vs. Russia

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