LUHANSK, September 10 (RIA Novosti) — The negotiations between the Kiev government and self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) will continue, but the date of the next meeting has yet to be set, LPR chief Igor Plotnitsky said Wednesday.
“There is an agreement [to continue negotiations], but it has not been clearly defined and there is no timeframe," Plotnitsky said. “The talks are not over yet, a lot remains to be discussed," he said.
Plotnitsky earlier said the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine will not last long, as the Kiev government is now preparing to resume military action by regrouping forces and bringing in foreign mercenaries.
At the September 5 meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk, representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed to a ceasefire between Kiev and independence supporters that started at 15:00 GMT the same day.
The participants of the Contact Group signed a 12-point protocol that also entails adoption by Ukraine of the law on special status for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in addition to holding early elections.
The protocol was signed two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined a seven-point plan for the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, calling on Kiev to withdraw troops from the southeastern regions of the country and the militia to cease military advances.
The plan also included proposals for an international monitoring force, the establishment of a humanitarian corridor, a ban on the use of combat aircraft over urban areas, an exchange of prisoners in an “all for all” formula and direct repair-crew access to destroyed infrastructure in the war-ravaged areas.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday Moscow expects that negotiations regarding the status of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk will begin soon.
