MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. Envoy of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) to the Contact Group on Ukraine Denis Pushilin has called on Ukrainian negotiators to take the example of security subgroup members and continue working until a consensus is reached.
"I am confident that Ukraine’s representatives in the subgroup on political issues should take cue from their colleagues in the security subgroup, which failed to reach a consensus yesterday and continued its work in Minsk today," the Donetsk news agency quotes him as saying.
The envoy noted that all members of the political subgroup, except for the Ukrainian side, were willing to stay in Minsk and continue work until results were achieved. "The political subgroup is the main one, and to stop the hostilities entirely we need to find solutions for the implementation of the next chain of points at an early date," Pushilin said.
"Otherwise the resumption of hostilities is inevitable, which means more casualties on both sides and more destruction of infrastructure. And then the talks and political solutions to end the war will follow. Ukraine must realize the harmfulness of its actions on prolonging the negotiation process," the DPR envoy said.
The Contact Group meeting, which began on August 3, stretched on late into the night. However, the parties failed to initial the text of the agreement on the withdrawal of weapons.