Zakharchenko and Plotnitsky will stay at home

The heads of the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky, decided not to participate in the meeting of the contact group on resolving the conflict in Donbass, which will take place on May 6 in Minsk.

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Channel “ 112 ” reports this based on media information.

As the report says, the meeting will be attended by delegations of the LPR and DPR, Russian representative Azamat Kulmukhametov, OSCE representative Heidi Tagliavini, as well as ex-President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma.
The head of the People's Council of the DPR, Andrei Purgin, explained the reason for the absence of the heads of republics at the meeting by the fact that a working process at the level of subgroups will take place in Minsk. “Actually, that’s why so far it’s not the heads of the DPR and LPR who have gone there, but plenipotentiary representatives and experts. In particular, the official representative in the contact group, Denis Pushilin, and about 10 other people sent from the DPR,” Purgin said.
Purgin also noted that at the moment even the exact agenda has not been determined; it will become known only in Minsk.

“Besides, we were not the initiators of this meeting. We are the invited party. We are going with our vision of solving problems, and the representatives of Ukraine are going with theirs. Experts in four subgroups will work in their own areas, but significant documents are unlikely to be signed,” he added.
The tripartite contact group to resolve the situation in Donbass will discuss the launch of the work of four subgroups on May 6 in Minsk.

Earlier, on April 29, a videoconference was held between the participants of the Trilateral Contact Group to resolve the conflict in Donbass. The meeting participants discussed the implementation of key points of the Minsk agreements: ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons, release of illegally detained persons. They also discussed the supply of Ukrainian and international humanitarian aid to Donetsk and Lugansk. In addition, they talked about de-escalating the situation in Shirokino and the Ukrainian side’s proposal to withdraw tanks, guns, and mortars with a caliber of less than 100 mm.