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Developments in eastern Ukraine

Kiev confirms Contact Group’s meeting on May 6

A meeting of the Contact Group participants with representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics is intended to be held in Minsk

© Viktor Drachev/TASS

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Donetsk, Luhansk republics agree on OSCE coordination of Contact Group’s subgroups

KIEV, May 4. /TASS/. The Ukrainian side has confirmed May 6 as the date for a new meeting of the Contact Group on the Ukraine crisis settlement in Minsk, Ukraine Envoy Leonid Kuchma’s spokeswoman Daria Olifer said on her Facebook account on Monday.

"A meeting of the Contact Group participants with representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics is intended to be held in Minsk on May 6," she said.

Ahead of this event, a working meeting will be held on May 5 between OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) representative Heidi Tagliavini, Kuchma and Russian envoy Azamat Kulmukhametov, the spokeswoman said.

Envoys of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego said earlier on Monday they had received invitations to a meeting of the Contact Group on the Ukraine crisis settlement and its working subgroups on May 6.

"During the meeting, we’ll discuss the launch of thematic groups," Pushilin told the Donetsk News Agency.

"Meetings of working groups will open in Minsk at 14:00 hours," Deinego said.

The leaders of the Normandy format countries - French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko - discussed the Ukraine situation during their telephone conversation on April 30 and agreed on the need to hold meetings of working subgroups of the Contact Group on Ukraine as soon as possible.

The Contact Group on the Ukraine crisis settlement held a meeting in Minsk on February 12 and signed a document approved by the leaders of the Normandy format countries, prioritizing a ceasefire between the conflicting sides in east Ukraine, the pullout of heavy armaments from the engagement line and measures for the political settlement of the crisis, including the creation of working subgroups.

The working subgroups will focus on four priority areas: economic issues and the restoration of facilities; refugees, internally displaced persons and humanitarian assistance; political issues and security.

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Eastern Ukraine

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