Poroshenko Heading to Minsk Talks to Call for Ceasefire, Start Dialogue

Ukrainian President Poroshenko was quoted as saying during his visit to the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region that a compromise must be found within the country.

KIEV (Sputnik) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was heading to the Minsk talks in order to immediately, unconditionally, and without any preconditions bring a halt to the violence and to begin political dialogue with the eastern regions, the president’s website said Wednesday.

“We will find a compromise within the country. We need to protect peace, protect the calm in the city of Kramatorsk, we must protect Ukraine. This is why I’m heading to Minsk in order to immediately, unconditionally, and without any preconditions to call for a ceasefire and begin political dialogue,” Poroshenko was quoted as saying during a visit to the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region late Tuesday night.

Later on Wednesday, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France are expected to meet in Minsk for Ukrainian crisis resolution talks in the Normandy format.

Ahead of the Normandy format meeting, the Contact Group on Ukraine comprising representatives from Russia, Kiev, the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR), and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), held a round of talks on Tuesday. The negotiations, however, were prolonged until Wednesday morning.

In the past weeks, the situation in southeastern Ukraine deteriorated significantly despite a ceasefire agreement reached earlier, prompting international mediators to seek an urgent solution to stop the bloodshed. Since April 2014, over 5,400 people died in the conflict, according to the United Nations.