Kuchma says meeting of Donbas contact group over next few days is inexpedient

14:36, 10.12.2014 1 min read

Second Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has said he sees no benefit in holding a meeting of the Donbas contact group in the next few days.

"I don't think this meeting is expedient at a time when the other party cannot ensure the ceasefire," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.

"Let them show that they actually want peace, not war, that they fully control their armed forces," he said.

Kuchma said that Ukraine had proposed to hold a meeting in Minsk on December 9, simultaneously with the announcement of a "day of silence" in Donbas, but this proposal had not been accepted for unknown reasons.

"The Ukrainian side is ready for the next meeting under a full ceasefire," he said.

It had been initially planned that the next meeting of the Donbas contact group, with the participation of Kuchma, the OSCE and the unrecognized Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, would be held in Minsk later this week.