KIEV, November 5 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev is refusing to participate in bilateral talks with representatives of eastern Ukraine, but is willing to take part in negotiations held in the Geneva format, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Wednesday during a Cabinet meeting.
"In regard to negotiations, then I will say once again: There is no outcome in sitting in bilateral talks with [eastern Ukrainian representatives]. One of the most effective and actual formats is the Geneva format with the participation of the US, EU, Ukraine and our northern geographical neighbors [Russia]," Yatsenyuk said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president's press service announced that Poroshenko suggested reviving the Geneva format of dialogue for the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas at the level of foreign affairs ministers in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Top diplomats from Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine met in Geneva on April 17 to devise a roadmap, which called for an end to the violence in the region, amnesty for all those involved in the fighting and a dialogue between state authorities and independence supporters.
Following a February coup in Kiev, Donetsk and Luhansk residents established people's republics that later declared their independence. In April, Ukrainian forces launched a military operation against the regions' independence supporters.
