Donetsk, Feb 9 - DAN. Western supervisors have tasked the Ukrainian leadership with sabotaging the Donbass peace initiatives and continuing to mount tensions in the region, Donetsk People’s Republic parliament speaker Vladimir Bidyovka told the Donetsk News Agency on Wednesday in comments on the prospects for the upcoming meeting of the political advisors to the Normandy Four leaders.
Earlier in the day Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the meeting would take place in Berlin on February 10.
“Of course, one would like to expect positive results from the meeting of the political advisors to the Normandy Four leaders, namely the fulfilment of the Minsk Agreement by Kiev,” Bidyovka said. “Nevertheless, we should not forget that Ukraine, in actual fact, is no longer an actor, which made it dependent on decisions made outside. It is obvious now that these decisions are still taken in favor of escalation and stepping up the anti-Russian hysteria.”
The speaker added that taking into account the available experience, one has to be ready for Kiev’s sabotaging the initiatives that might be coordinated at tomorrow’s meeting. At the same time, he believes that Ukraine can still be brought to its senses and forced into fulfilling the commitments it undertook.
“It’s important to note that this would provide for not only settling the conflict between Ukraine and Donbass but also for making a big step towards ensuring security in Europe on the whole,” Bidyovka said.
The Normandy Four format emerged after the summit of the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine in Normandy in June 2014. The leaders made groundwork for the operation of the Contact Group, the key platform for negotiating the settlement of the Donbass conflict. *jk