US Special Representative For Ukraine Volker To Visit Kiev Next Week - Klimkin

Sumaira FH Published February 18, 2019 | 10:20 PM

US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker will visit Kiev next week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Monday

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2019) US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker will visit Kiev next week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Monday.

"He [Volker] will visit Ukraine again next week," Klimkin told reporters, as broadcast by the 112 Ukraine tv channel.

Klimkin also noted that during their previous meeting, he told Volker that he was ready for a Normandy format meeting, however, only provided that the talks would be "substantive."

According to Klimkin, Volker had expressed hope at that time that the Normandy format dialogue would take place soon, but the exact place and time were yet to be determined.

The last Normandy format meeting took place in late July 2018 in Berlin and brought together the senior officials of the Normandy Four group - Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France - to discuss issues concerning the the Ukrainian conflict settlement.

The Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR) have been engaged in armed conflict with Kiev for several years. The conflict erupted after they refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities who came to power in 2014.

In 2015, a ceasefire deal was signed between conflicting sides in Minsk following talks brokered by the leaders of the Normandy Four. However, despite this agreement, sporadic fighting has continued in Donbas. To date, the situation remains tense, with both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire.