Belarus is still ready to provide a platform for Trilateral Contact Group (Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) talks aimed at achieving a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Ukraine, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry told Interfax.

"If we receive a consolidated proposal from all the parties to the talks, we will immediately be ready to provide a platform for the meeting. Our position on this matter has not changed," a ministry official said.

At the same time, he could not give a date for the next round of talks.

Earlier on Wednesday ex-Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, who represents Kyiv in the Contact Group, said that the next round of Minsk talks could be held next week.

For his part, a source in the government of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic told Interfax that the DPR government is not ruling out the possibility that the Contact Group on Ukraine could meet in Minsk next week.

The DPR would like to see officials from Kyiv, for instance, the defense minister at these talks, instead of Kuchma, he also said.

The most acceptable format for consultations would involve the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, OSCE and Russian representatives, as well as Kyiv officials, the source added.

The consultations are most likely to focus on ceasefire issues and the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, he said. A discussion of a demarcation line between the sides has not been ruled out either.