Donetsk weighs “certain concessions to Kiev”

The leadership of the Donetsk People’s Republic is ready for concessions at the talks of the Contact Group on January 20 in Minsk, where the sides will be discussing upcoming elections in Donbass, said Denis Pushilin, the head of the DPR delegation to the Contact Group.

“The issues on agenda for tomorrow are left unchanged. We hope for fruitful discussions on the elections. We hope to achieve some concessions. It applies to the subgroup on the political issues,” the Donetsk News Agency quotes Pushilin as saying. He thinks it is too early to speak about any specific results, as the stands (with Kiev) are fundamentally different. “However, to achieve implementation of the given provision in the Set of Measures, we need to go on some concessions. Not just we. Kiev should do it too,” Pushilin said.

EADaily reported earlier that on January 11 Russia’s Plenipotentiary at the talks in Minsk Boris Gryzlov had a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. On January 15, President of Russia Vladimir Putin held an operative discussion with permanent members of the Security Council. On the same day, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland met with Vladimir Putin’s Assistant Vladislav Surkov in Kaliningrad region, Russia. After the meeting, U.S. Department representative John Kirby called the negotiations “constructive.” On January 20 2016, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State John Kerry are expected to meet in Zurich over implementation of the Minsk Agreements.