Roman Bezsmertny, Ukraine's representative in the political subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group dealing with the crisis in Donbas in the Minsk format, informed the other parties on Thursday that he had quit the negotiations, the Yevropeiska Pravda (European Truth) online publication reported on Thursday.

"I have decided for myself and informed all those concerned, from the people responsible for the process' technological support to the president, that I have finished this stage in my life," Bezsmertny said.

Bezsmertny said new representative of Ukraine, Olha Aivazovska, has been included in the subgroup to replace him. "Everything is currently concentrated on elections, in which she is a specialist," he said.

Bezsmertny had represented Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group's political subgroup until recently.

Aivazovska has specialized in monitoring election processes in Ukraine since 2001. In 2006, she became a co-founder of the OPORA Civic Network, an all-Ukrainian NGO. It was reported in early April that the Ukrainian delegation to the political subgroup had invited Aivazovska to discuss modalities of elections in certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.