Ukraine is doing all it can to make sure that negotiations between the leaders of the so-called Normandy Quartet (France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine) take place in Minsk on Wednesday, says Iryna Heraschenko, the Ukrainian presidential envoy for a peaceful settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine.

"Ukraine is doing all it can and is determined to make sure that top-level negotiations in the Normandy format will be held today," Heraschenko said at a news briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will fly to Minsk to take part in the talks on Wednesday, she said.

The Ukrainian leader will not only raise the issue of Donbas conflict escalation but will also talk about "the need to unconditionally observe all provisions of the Minsk protocol, including those concerning a ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons, and certainly the freeing of all hostages," she said.

"The Ukrainian president will once again officially raise the issue of the urgent and immediate release of Nadia Savchenko, who is on a hunger strike in a Russian jail, Oleh Sentsov and all other political prisoners being held on the Russian Federation territory and those held by the gunmen," she said.

The Tuesday shelling of Kramatorsk will be "among the key points addressed during the negotiations in Minsk," Heraschenko said.