Leonid Kuchma, the second President of Ukraine (from 1994 to 2005) has said that it is very unlikely that the United States will get involved in talks in Minsk to settle down the situation in Donbas.

"I don't think something will come out of it. But the proposal is a good one. The fact that [President Alexander] Lukashenko [of Belarus] has come up with such a proposal [is welcome], and I would like to thank him for that," Kuchma told journalists in Kharkiv on November 1.

At the same time, he called to use all the opportunities available. "If there is an opportunity to invite someone else, I will be most happy. However, I don't think that someone will be willing [to step in]. Do you really think that Trump will wish it? He must be thanked for Kurt Volker doing a very big positive job for Ukraine. However, there will be nothing else. They will respond that they have been already involved," Kuchma explained his stance.

Also, he doubted that the European Union can be involved in the Minsk format. "If the European Union wishes to support Ukraine, it does not need to enter this format as it has already got all the opportunities to do everything that is needed. Let them just do it. But you can see how big contradictions are within the European Union. And there is no need to hope that it will assign a commissioner to take the actual part [in the talks]," Kuchma said.

As was earlier reported, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus on October 31 said there is a need to get the United States involved in the talks to settle down the situation in Donbas.

On November 1 Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, said that the United States and the EU must get involved in the negotiations to settle down the conflict in the south-east of Ukraine.