Donetsk, Feb 17 - DAN. The Donetsk delegation at the Contact Group meeting suggested holding an international workshop in the Belarussian capital on implementation of the Minsk Agreements on settling the Donbass conflict, Donetsk People’s Republic representative at the Contact Group talks, DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova told the Donetsk News Agency on Wednesday.
“As the Contact Group talks are currently as good as blocked due to Kiev’s position, we decided to propose an international workshop on implementation of the Minsk Agreements on settling the conflict in Donbass,” Nikonorova said.
“It would be a real opportunity to hold an open discussion on practical implementation of the Minsk Agreements,” she said. “Minsk would be the venue convenient to all participants. They will include not only the parties to the conflict - Donbass and Ukraine - but also the mediators in the person of the OSCE, the Minsk Agreements guarantor countries and UN member-states representatives.
“However, this idea, as many other proposals brought forward by the Republics, was not supported by Ukraine, although it did not present any coherent or constructive arguments to the contrary,” the diplomat said.
She drew attention to the fact that the Republic had already received signals from a number of experts and activists in European countries about their interest. “We’re thankful to the mediators in the person of the Russian Federation who gave a positive opinion about our initiative and expressed readiness to contribute to conference arrangements,” Nikonorova said.*jk