Kyiv Ready to Participate in Donbass De-escalation Contact Group Discussions

Ukraine is prepared to discuss the situation in Donbass to prevent provocations within the framework of the trilateral contact group.

The Ukrainian delegation stated on its Telegram channel that the extraordinary meeting scheduled for February 18, initiated by the OSCE coordinator, did not take place due to "refusal from the Russian side."

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced that Kyiv hopes the contact group meeting will take place on February 19 and is ready to do everything to restore the ceasefire.

"We hope that such a meeting will take place tomorrow. We are ready to work, ready for dialogue, ready to do everything to restore the ceasefire regime and ensure that civilians do not suffer," Vereshchuk said during today’s briefing.

It is worth noting that Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, also stated that Ukraine does not plan to negotiate with the leadership of the self-proclaimed republics. At the same time, he noted that no order for the liberation of Donbass has been received from Kyiv.

Earlier, the Chief Commander of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, stated that there are no offensive operations planned in Donbass. Earlier today, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also stated that "Ukraine is not conducting and does not plan to conduct offensive operations and diversions in Donbass."