Donbas is part of Ukraine, the former president of Ukraine has stressed.
Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on Donbas settlement Leonid Kravchuk says he forced Russia's delegate Boris Gryzlov to apologize for his comment about Donbas during the TCG video conference.
"Answering questions from participants in the conference, Mr. Gryzlov turned to the Ukrainian delegation claiming that their question should be posed by the ORDLO [occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions], because this is a territory that's part of ORDLO. Of course, I could not help but react. I asked Gryzlov to apologize for inaccuracy, because this is Ukrainian territory, as it is recognized in international documents and by the Russian president by the way," Kravchuk told Ukraine 24 TV channel.
According to the Ukrainian official, the Russian representative had to correct his comment. Gryzlov was forced to say he meant that this is territory is not being controlled by Ukraine.
"The issue was finally settled. We cannot but respond to sensitive issues like that, but the response must be documented and objective," Kravchuk added.
TCG talks: background