New Ukraine peace talks to be held in Minsk: Poroshenko

After telephone conversations with his French, Russian, and German opposite numbers, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday that envoys from Kiev, Moscow, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will attend the talks.

"The heads of state agreed that the next meetings of the trilateral contact group in Minsk will take place on Wednesday and Friday this week," a statement on the Ukrainian president’s website said.

In September, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and leaders of pro-Russia forces, Igor Plotnitsky and Alexander Zakharchenko, signed a ceasefire deal in Minsk. The broad peace plan was, however, frequently violated.

"The participants agreed on the necessity of implementing all points of the Minsk agreement, including the question of the ceasefire ... the withdrawal of heavy weapons and also the immediate release of all hostages," the statement added.

The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since Kiev started military operations in mid-April in a bid to crush the protests.

Violence intensified in May after the two flashpoint regions held local referendums in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine and joining the Russian Federation.

The West accuses Moscow of supporting the pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine, saying the Russian intervention poses a security threat to Ukraine and all other neighboring states. Russia has strongly denied the allegation.

HK