Donetsk, Jun 2 - DAN. The Donbass peace talks have been deadlocked due to Kiev’s refusal to interact with representatives of the People’s Republics, deputy head of Russia’s presidential administration Dmitry Kozak said in an interview with Russia 24 television channel.
“That they have to interact with Donbass representatives doesn’t suit Kiev,” Kozak said. “This is the key problem we’re trying to resolve in the Contact Group. It deadlocks all issues: the ceasefire issues and the implementation of this mechanism (addional measure to strengthen the ceasefire - eds Donetsk News Agency) which secures the ceasefire, as well as political, humanitarian and economic issues. It is the key reason behind our six-year deadlock.”
He said that the mounting tensions in the conflict zone in January-March were deliberately initiated by Ukraine’s incumbent authorities to meet the interests of their domestic and foreign policies.
“Judging by our monitoring, it’s perfectly obvious that these strikes are initiated from Kiev-held areas. Consequently, it’s a hand-made story,” the Kremlin official said.
Kozak, who leads the Russian delegation at the Donbass peace talks at the level of aides to the “Normandy Four” leaders, made it clear that Moscow stands for maximum transparency of talks both in the Contact Group and the "Normandy Four" format.*jk