LPR and DPR have suggested inviting the US to the talks in the Normandy Four, Lugansk People’s Republic representative in the Contact Group political subgroup Rodion Miroshnik said.
He said that such a meeting would "provide a chance to relaunch the peace dialog" as a "constructive and effective dialog is non-existent both in the N4 talks and the Minsk format"/
Miroshnik blamed Ukraine for consciously impeding negotiation processes at (the stage of) procedural issues, "Kiev reduces the talks to a meaningless imitation of activities".
"Taking the positive outcome of the Russia-US summit in this matter into consideration, as well as a high level of US influence on Ukrainian politics, conducting such a meeting could be an adequate investment in the settlement of the seven-year-old conflict that is still ongoing."
"Official proposals to conduct this format, signed by plenipotentiaries of the certain areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions in the Contact Group, have been filed with the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kozak and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, asking them to initiate the meeting and notify all potential participants," Miroshnik said.
He added that "the commitment of all its potential participants to the Minsk Agreements and that there are no alternatives at the moment should be a constructive basis for the meeting," while "blatant attempts to block the chance to bring the point of view of the other side of the conflict to the world community are counterproductive and do not yield results for years. Meanwhile, the bloodshed and degradation of densely populated territories continues."
"The readiness of all participants for a one-time meeting in order to find possible ways to fully implement the Minsk Agreements, without destroying and mechanically expanding the existing formats of regular negotiations, would show a genuine desire to resolve the conflict. Both N4 and US leaders declare such intention, and holding the meeting would become its practical implementation, "added Miroshnik.
