UNIAN
Second Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has said that a new round of talks to resolve the conflict in the Donbas may take place in Belarus next week.
These meetings are held in Minsk in the format "Russia-Ukraine-OSCE," Ukraine being represented by Kuchma, the BBC’s Ukrainian Service reported.
According to the former president, the Minsk Protocol is a "fundamental document."
"A ceasefire was not achieved, but I think this is a fundamental document that is referred to by the whole world, and it is important that it was also signed by Russia," Kuchma said.
However the leaders of self-declared Donetsk People's Republic have said they do not have any information about the meeting of the contact group.
Meanwhile, the Joint Center for Parties' Control and Coordination of Ceasefire and Stabilization of Demarcation Line, a Ukrainian-Russian military liaison group, is operating in eastern Ukraine as provided for by Minsk agreements.
The participants of the Center are senior Ukrainian and Russian military officers, as well as OSCE experts.
As reported by the media center of the National Security and Defense Council on Wednesday, the Joint Center is focused on seeking the mechanism that would "stop the armed confrontation."
In particular, to match the permanent group in Debaltseve, similar groups will be launched in the near future, which are to be deployed in Donetsk and Luhansk, according to the NSDC.
Earlier, the representatives of the Joint Center tried to negotiate a ceasefire at Donetsk airport. The Ukrainian military and the militants both declared a truce, but fighting there continued all the same.
On Wednesday evening the press center of ATO said that during the day the ceasefire had not been “100% observed."
"There were shots and explosions. However, as of 1700 the situation at the Donetsk airport was relatively calm," the press center said.
Shelling and attacks were reported in other areas, according to the military.