Donetsk, Oct 22 - DAN. Seven years into the Donbass crisis, Ukraine is still not ready to start a direct dialogue with the Donbass Republics, the DPR Minister of Foreign Affairs Natalia Nikonorova said speaking at the "Minsk process: reality and tendencies" round table organized in the Russian Tass News Agency.
"We take numerous steps and put massive efforts to galvanize Ukraine to engage in a direct dialogue and settle acute issues we are facing in accordance with the Minsk Agreements," she said.
"There is no way to settle the conflict other than direct talks. It is exactly the direct dialogue that doesn't work for Ukraine. All we get in return is hackneyed mantras, virtualising the adversary, some fantasies and speculations."
The Minsk talks got in a deadlock in summer 2020 when Ukraine endorsed the regulation on local elections, whereas its article No.4 contradicts the Minsk Agreements. Later the same year, Donbass Republics suggested reviving the political subgroup activity by tabling a draft road map in October. Ukraine responded after a month, proposing a document 78 percent of which are at odds with the Agreements. *ot