Moscow hopes Contact Group on Ukraine will meet in coming days - diplomat

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. Moscow expects that the Contact Group on Ukraine will hold a meeting in the coming days, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said on Wednesday. “We presume that the Contact Group should gather in the coming days,” the diplomat said, adding that plans on further contacts at various levels will be announced later. The foreign ministers of the so-called “Normandy Four” - Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine - announced after talks in Berlin on Monday that the meeting of the Contact Group is due to be held shortly. The top diplomats said in a joint statement that the Contact Group should meet in the coming days to “make progress on the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, including the creation of the relevant conditions for an effective cease-fire.” The parties said the discussion should be followed by talks between the political directors of the “Normandy Four” and did not rule out that a new ministerial meeting could take place later. The Contact Group on Ukraine includes representatives of Russia, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Ukraine and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Read more