President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the composition of the Ukrainian delegation to participate in the Trilateral Contact Group for the Peaceful Settlement of the Situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions.
The relevant decree was signed by the President on May 5, 2020.
The Ukrainian delegation in the TCG is headed by President of Ukraine in 1994-2005 Leonid Kuchma, which ensures the continuity and inviolability of Ukrainian positions.
The delegation also included: Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov (First Deputy Head of Delegation), Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation, People's Deputy of Ukraine Oleksandr Merezhko (Deputy Head of Delegation), Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko (Representative of Ukraine in the working subgroup on socio-economic affairs) , Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy, People's Deputy of Ukraine Andriy Kostin (Representative of Ukraine in the working subgroup on political affairs), Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Polishchuk (Representative of Ukraine in the working subgroup on security affairs), Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Social Policy and Protection of Veterans' Rights, People's Deputy of Ukraine Halyna Tretyakova (Representative of Ukraine in the working subgroup on humanitarian affairs).
According to the document, the Head of the Ukrainian delegation and his first deputy may appoint deputy representatives of Ukraine in working subgroups and involve people's deputies, government officials, advisers, experts and technical staff in the work of the delegation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is responsible for organizational, informational, advisory and other support of the Ukrainian delegation in the TCG.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, who on behalf of the Head of State moderates the activities of the Ukrainian delegation in the TCG, noted that the given Presidential Decree additionally regulates the composition of the Ukrainian delegation and defines the responsibilities of each member.
"The process of resolving the situation in Donbas is complicated, and therefore must be continued without interruption. Ukraine wants to take a tougher and more proactive position, because we need significant progress in a number of issues. We need clearer definitions of controversial and conflicting points and a clearer definition of our own positions," Andriy Yermak said.
He stressed that Volodymyr Zelenskyy is closely monitoring the activity of the TCG and is interested in intensifying the work of the group to obtain more meaningful results.