Contact group on Ukraine to resume talks 5 September

         The three-party contact group (Ukraine-Russia-OSCE) set up to resolve the crisis in Ukraine will resume talks on 5 September, the ONT TV channel said. The consultations on Ukraine on 1 September lasted for about four hours. The next meeting will take place in Minsk on 5 September. Attending the talks was the former President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma, Russia's Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, representative of the current OSCE President in Ukraine Heidi Tagliavini, and Vice Premier of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Andrei Purgin.
       The contact group previously met in the Belarusian capital on 31 July. The parties discussed ways of ensuring a safe access to the Malaysian Boeing crash site for international investigators and the release of the hostages held by the two sides. At the recent Minsk summit of the Presidents of Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine with the participation of top EU officials there was decided to continue the talks.