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DEUkraine plans to increase the number of representatives in the Tripartite Contact Group on Donbas. This was stated by the head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak in an interview with LB.ua.
“It is the right of Ukraine to change the composition of the delegation. We changed it, approved it, and received support from French and German partners. In the same way, it is our sovereign right – as one of the parties to the Tripartite Contact Group – to invite experts, invited guests, and someone else. So, our group of four people, whom we introduced at the first meeting of the political subgroup, will be expanded. There will be many more of them,” Yermak said.
He could not name the exact number but added that the heads of the delegation would form a group of representatives depending on the aspect of the discussion. Their main purpose is consultations, participation in the discussion of legislative acts.
“From our side, it can be: representatives of civil society, people who live in uncontrolled territories today, but are not involved in the “LPR / DPR”, and didn’t take part in hostilities, there is no blood on their hands, and so on. Either they are temporary migrants who have been forced to leave or people who – because of their place of birth – have a legal connection specifically to these (occupied – ed.) territories,” the head of the President’s Office explained.
It will be recalled that on June 9, the Ukrainian delegation to the Tripartite Contact Group on Donbas included representatives of the occupied territories – journalists Denys Kazansky and Serhiy Garmash from Donetsk region, as well as the head of NGO “Luhansk Zemliatstvo” Vadym Goran and doctor Konstiantyn Libster from Luhansk.
Later, Russia’s representative about Donbas talks, Borys Gryzlov, accused Ukraine of allegedly withdrawing from the Minsk process. According to him, Kyiv has decided to negotiate with people “whom it appointed by himself”.
Bohdan Marusyak
