UA
FR
DEThe second Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who had been heading the Ukrainian delegation of the Tripartite Contact Group in Minsk, has quit the negotiation process.
As the Office of the President of Ukraine reports, Kuchma himself addressed the current Head of State with a request.
“Volodymyr Zelensky highly estimates the second President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma’s activity at the Ukrainian delegation Head of the Tripartite Contact Group (TCG). Zelensky stressed that Leonid Kuchma’s work in the Minsk process was extremely important and difficult, and noted that he respected it as well as Kuchma’s decision to terminate his participation in the TCG ” the statement reads.
At the same time, Kuchma noted that the TCG work has resumed and advanced significantly during the last year. A number of important steps have been taken, and important agreements have been reached.
The Second President of Ukraine stressed that he is ready to share experience and provide consultations in the process of establishing peace in Ukraine if there is a need.
To recap, Kuchma has headed the Ukrainian delegation in Minsk since 2014 but withdrew from the process due to “reaching a critical age” in September 2018. In June 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky again appointed Kuchma to lead the Minsk talks.
On May 20, President Zelensky announced that Kuchma wanted to quit the Minsk process and asked to hand over his powers to current Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.
Bohdan Marusyak
