Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko on December 21.

"We are likely to meet with the Ukrainian president on Sunday. He called me yesterday and asked for holding a meeting and discussing certain issues, and I have had expressed my wish [to do so] as well because we have things to discuss under the current circumstances," Lukashenko said during his visit to the State Forensic Examination Committee.

The Belarusian state media quoted Lukashenko's statement.

"I understood from that conversation that the Ukrainian administration, for instance, the Ukrainian president, was absolutely not hindering the beginning of a new round of the Minsk negotiations," the president said.

"He said he was waiting for the response from the administrations of the Luhansk and Donetsk republics. If an agreement is reached, they will be able to convene on this platform in Minsk shortly to continue their dialogue and to think about the orientation of their further progress," he said.

The dialogue is the most important thing, Lukashenko underlined. "No matter how difficult it may be, and I understand the Ukrainian president, there is no other way for him and the leaders of Donetsk and Luhansk but to sit down at the negotiating table and to hold dialogue. They need to talk. Peace will be reached at some point. It is impossible to continue on the path of escalation and death of innocent people," the president said.

The venue of the meeting between the Belarusian and Ukrainian presidents was not disclosed.