Russia expects contact group to meet this week
MOSCOW, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) — Russia expected that the trilateral Contact Group negotiations on Ukraine crisis could be held this week, the Kremlin aide said on Monday.
“We are ready and will do everything we can to gather a Contact Group meeting this week in the Belarussian capital of Minsk,” Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, also a representative of the contact group, said Wednesday that representatives from Kyiv and the leadership of independence-seeking insurgents are expected to continue their talks on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine this week.
The previous round of the peace talks was held on Sept. 20, when the sides agreed to stop using heavy weapons in populated areas, establish a weapon-free buffer zone and adhere to the Minsk protocol signed earlier.
According to Ushakov, the unscheduled meeting between Russian and French presidents on Saturday “showed mutual understanding elements” on pushing forward the peaceful settlement of Ukraine crisis.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday met his French counterpart Francois Hollande at Moscow’s Vnukovo-2 airport as Hollande made a stopover on his way back to Paris after the trip to Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Ushakov stressed that the Mistral issue was not covered during the snap meeting, as Moscow felt “calm in general” about France’s refusal to implement contract on delivery of Mistral-class warships.
“We’ll be satisfied with either of the options: ships or money. But the money spent needs to be returned,” Interfax news agency quoted Ushakov as saying.
Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of the Center for International Studies in National Research University’s High School of Economics, said the Mistral issue would scare off France’s potential clients who treat Paris as an unreliable business partner.
“Moscow understands the chance to receive the ships under current conditions is close to zero. However, the damage incurred by France’s refusal to implement the Mistral contract is more harmful to Paris than to Moscow,” Suslov told Xinhua.