STRASBOURG, June 26 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian regions say they will send envoys to a trilateral meeting of Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Friday, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said Thursday.
“Yesterday we came to an agreement that a three-party commission will gather today, comprising Russian ambassador [Mikhail Zurabov], former president of Ukraine [Leonid Kuchma] and an OSCE envoy,” Poroshenko said.
“Tomorrow is the last opportunity. Currently, I have confirmation that about half an hour ago they [representatives of Ukrainian regions] demonstrated their interest in participating,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Poroshenko warned that if “key elements” of his peace plan are rejected, “then we will make a very important decision tomorrow, and I’m not going to comment on its nature.”
The negotiations are to be held on the final day of Poroshenko’s week-long cease-fire, which was upheld Monday by opposition forces in Ukraine’s restive Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conference with Poroshenko, as well as with France’s Francois Hollande and Germany’s Angela Merkel, in which he called for the cease-fire to be prolonged.
The truce officially went into effect June 20 after Petro Poroshenko ordered a cease-fire for all military units as a prelude to the president’s peace plan, a 15-step document that provides security guarantees for further negotiations.
