Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council has stated that it sees no desire by militants to settle the situation in Donbas by peaceful means.

"Those who want to end the bloodshed and establish peace in Donbas as soon as possible, not risking the lives of people in the region, are trying to do that," NSDC information and analytical center spokesman Andriy Lysenko told Interfax-Ukraine.

He said that the date of "decisive talks" on December 9 had been known beforehand.

"Therefore, any initiative to delay the talks is at least surprising. The Ukrainian side is completely ready for the talks on December 9," he said.

Lysenko added that Russia and the OSCE had confirmed their readiness to meet in Minsk.

As reported, militants from the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" stated on Sunday that they would not have time to resolve a number of issues related to the Minsk talks by December 9.

The DPR representative at the Minsk talks, Denys Pushylin, said: "We are insisting on the date of December 12 at the earliest. The date of December 9, which was proposed earlier, does not suit us. There are a lot of issues that need to be adjusted. They also need to be worked out, otherwise they just won't be resolved," he said.