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Issue of direct talks with Donbass was key problem during Berlin talks - Kiev

If Ukraine agrees, then Russia’s status will change to that of a mediator, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said

KIEV, February 11. /TASS/. The demand for Kiev to engage in direct talks with the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk (DPR and LPR) was the main source of disagreement during the latest meeting of Normandy Quartet at the level of political advisors, and prevented them from adopting a joint document, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on Friday.

"Direct dialogue between Ukraine and the separate areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions was the key issue. This matter is well known to everyone. Russia insists on a direct dialogue with the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. If Ukraine agrees, then Russia’s status will change to that of a mediator. That is why we keep refusing," the minister said in a speech, broadcast on his Facebook page.

On Thursday, the Normandy Quartet’s political advisers held nine hours of talks in Berlin which failed to produce a joint document. Deputy chief of the Russian presidential staff Dmitry Kozak described the situation as a stalemate. Kiev refused to agree to conduct a direct dialogue with the Donbass republics regarding the region’s future status in post-conflict Ukraine. And while discussing a draft joint communique Ukraine strongly refused even to cite the Minsk agreements, he said.

Russia has repeatedly said that it was not a party to the Ukrainian conflict, and favored full and strict implementation of the Minsk agreements, which it signed only as a mediator in the peace process.

Efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Donbass are based on the Minsk Agreements, which particularly include moves to declare a ceasefire, withdraw weapons, declare amnesty, restore economic ties and conduct constitutional reform in Ukraine through dialogue with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR), aimed at decentralizing power and providing a special status to certain districts in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

However, the negotiation process has actually stalled because of Kiev’s refusal to fulfill the political provisions of the Minsk accords.

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