Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin before the talks of the foreign ministers in the 'Normandy format' in Minsk has declared his readiness to invite colleagues from Germany and France - Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jean-Marc Ayrault to the Zolote checkpoint (Luhansk region) which was blocked since the end of March 2016 by the ORDLO (occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions) to promote the launch of its work.

"The Ukrainian side expressed outrage on the fact that Zolote hasn’t been opened and was blocked since March 2016. The minister said he is ready today to invite to the Zolote opening his colleagues Steinmeier and Ayrault, hoping the Russians will give the go-ahead to the ORDLO not to humiliate the civilian population and to finally open the checkpoint," Verkhovna Rada First Vice-Speaker, Ukrainian representative to the Trilateral Contact Group's humanitarian subgroup Iryna Gerashchenko said on her Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon.

As reported, the 'Normandy format' meeting of foreign ministers will be held in Minsk on November 29. It is expected that the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault and the head of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will take part in the meeting.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin said that at the meeting of foreign ministers he intends to present the Ukrainian version of the plan to resolve the situation in the east of Ukraine.

The Zolote checkpoint in the Luhansk region is fully equipped and ready to pass people from March 31, 2016. Its opening was coordinated in the TCG (Trilateral Contact Group) framework last autumn. All the consultation parties gave their consent. Some 2,000 cars and 5,000 pedestrians can cross this checkpoint daily.

In Minsk on November 9 the TCG meeting entrusted to open Zolote checkpoint before November 23.

In the morning of November 23 employees of the State Border Service of Ukraine started registration of people and vehicles that cross the disengagement line in the Luhansk region through Zolote checkpoint. However, the LPR (the Luhansk People's Republic) militants did not allow persons and vehicles cross the checkpoint on their part in the result of which the transportation hasn’t been recovered.

On November 23 the TCG preliminary agreed to open the Zolote checkpoint until December 10.