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Developments in eastern Ukraine

Donetsk leader confirms Minsk talks won't begin until Kiev appoints official envoy

Kiev said earlier the peace talks on the conflict in Ukraine's east must be attended by leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics

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MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, has confirmed that there will be no Minsk format talks until Kiev has appointed its official representative in the Contact Group.

"Former president Leonid Kuchma is a private person," he explained.

"Until Kiev has appointed its official representative, there will be no more talks in the Minsk format," the Donetsk news agency quotes Zakharchenko as saying.

Kiev said earlier the peace talks on the conflict in Ukraine's east must be attended by leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR).

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Eastern Ukraine

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