Dmytro Kuleba / Photo from UNIAN

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has commented on the recent talks held in Berlin between the Russian and German sides toward Donbas settlement.

According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine had known in advance about the scheduled negotiations of Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak, which he conducted in Berlin, the RBC Ukraine news outlet reported.

Kuleba said Kozak had been invited to Berlin over the lack of progress in the implementation of Minsk agreements, as well as due to the pro-active approach of the Ukrainian side, which has offered new initiatives, including to increase the level of representation in the Trilateral Contact Group.

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"Obviously, things will move forward if there is constructive reciprocity on the part of Russia. Therefore, a Berlin meeting was needed. By the way, it was by this logic that my German counterpart, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, after my conversation with him was able to attract Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the negotiations in the Normandy format. Ukraine knew about Kozak's visit in advance and we will know how it went. We have a rule with our partners – we do not decide anything behind each other's back. Therefore, we are not talking about any games played behind our back," Kuleba said.

The minister emphasized Ukraine was grateful to the German side for their efforts to attract Russia to the dialogue and search for constructive steps.

Earlier, Kozak reported on negotiations on Donbas settlement, which he had allegedly held with the assistant to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.