Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he hopes that a meeting of the contact group on the settlement of the situation in Donbas will take place on Sunday, December 21.
He said this at a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the presidential press service reported.
Poroshenko said that he had high hopes for a real breakthrough in the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas in accordance with clear agreements on retreat to the line of contact between the sides, the exchange of prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian goods needed by the population of the occupied territories.
Steinmeier, in turn, expressed hope that the contact group would still meet in Minsk on Sunday.
“This should be a sign of hope and aspirations next year for the benefit of the Ukrainian people who deserve better. There are good reasons for that,” Steinmeier said.
“It is important that all parties to the Minsk agreements observe the commitments assumed and feel their duty to fulfill them,” he said.
The sides discussed the current situation in the occupied part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and expressed a common position on the need to deliver humanitarian aid to these regions. The Ukrainian president said that the next humanitarian cargo for residents of Donbas was being prepared.
Poroshenko also said that the government had begun work on preparing the necessary documentation for the receipt of EUR 500 million in loan guarantees from the German government, as was agreed between Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the latter’s visit to Ukraine last August.
Poroshenko also drew Steinmeier’s attention to the need for joint efforts by Ukraine’s partners and international financial organizations to review and increase international economic assistance to Ukraine.
Top stories
Not only Russia. How populists destroy the greatness of the West Wednesday, October 4, 2023 - 06:27 (EEST)
-
