Minsk wants to avoid being drawn into process of freezing conflict in Ukraine

Denis Pushilin, the DNI representatives in the trilateral contact group negotiations in Minsk said that representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republic were ready to come Minsk for negotiations with the Ukrainian authorities. Official Minsk evasively commented on the possibility of holding the group-s next meeting in Minsk, which could be connected with the negative reaction in Kyiv to this initiative by pro-Russian separatists and the ceasefire breakdown. By providing negotiation platform the Belarusian leadership has already managed to boost its importance in ensuring regional security and begin the process of normalisation in Belarus-EU/US relations. However, the Belarusian authorities do not want to share the responsibility if the conflict becomes a frozen one with paramilitary pro-Russian enclaves in eastern Ukraine (which is what pro-Russian separatists want).