MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Kiev refused, at the Contact Group talks in Minsk, to disengage forces in populated areas and offered sections for disengagement "in the open field" instead, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Sunday.
"Even when the Contact Group met earlier this week to discuss these three new sections (for disengagement - TASS), the Ukrainian side, as far as I know, offered three sections in the open field where disengagement will have no impact on security of people and civil infrastructure," he said in an interview with the Bolshaya Igra (Big Game) program on Russia’s television Channel One. "And they categorically refused to designate these three disengagement sections in populated localities where these steps will help diminish threats to civilians."
Lavrov however refrained from commenting on the negotiating skills of Ukrainian diplomats under President Vladimir Zelensky. "As for the skills of Ukrainian President Zelensky’s team, I would like to note that it has career diplomats who have worked for the Ukrainian government for years. So, I don’t think they have too few experienced negotiators," the Russian top diplomat noted. "Not long ago, talks were held on gas and other cooperation aspects and they demonstrate that despite all the problems, Ukrainians understand that efforts are needed to find solutions. But so far, I find it difficult to say how skillful they are."
A Normandy Four summit crisis was held in Paris on December 9, for the first time after a three-year break. Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Emmanuel Macron of Germany, Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine and German Chancellor Angela Merkel gathered in the Elysee Palace to discuss ways of settling the conflict in Donbass.
The seven-hours talks yielded a final document committing to paper a number of concrete accords. Among the summit’s expected results was an agreement to exchange prisoners-of-war in Donbass under the formula of "all identified for all identified" by the yearend and to disengage forces at three more sections of the contact line by March 2020.
However, the Contact Group that met in Minsk on December 18 failed to reach an agreement on concrete measures on the implementation of the summit’s document.