The success of the negotiations on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine's east depends not on the number of the countries participating in it, but on the will of world leaders, former Ukrainian president and Ukraine's representative in the Tripartite Contact Group for Donbas settlement, Leonid Kuchma, has said.

In his speech to the students of Nizhyn Gogol State University on Friday, he noted that the success of the 'Minsk process' depends not on the number of the countries participating in the negotiation process, but on their will, especially the will of world leaders.

"And while many politicians are currently criticizing the Normandy format (of negotiations which includes Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia), and the Minsk agreements, the question is simple: what do they offer instead?" Kuchma noted.

He also said Russia is interested in getting a frozen conflict on the territory of Ukraine similar to those which sprang earlier in other regions. With this in mind Russia insists on holding elections in the territory not controlled by the government.

"They want to hold elections on the occupied territory at any cost, when it's clearly stated in the Minsk agreements: the foremost requirement is the security issue, to stop killing each other, and then we can hold a political struggle," Ukraine's representative in the trilateral contact group said.

In this context, Kuchma noted that he was surprised by the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where the former said that to resolve the conflict in Syria, first they need to solve the security issue, and then everything else.

"Why is there a different approach to Ukraine? Probably, it [Russia] wants to get another frozen conflict modeled after that of Nagorno-Karabakh, Transdniestria, and Abkhazia," Kuchma said.