But a European diplomat with knowledge of the current diplomatic efforts told CNN on Tuesday that early indications were that top rebel leaders, namely Alexander Zakharchenko and Denis Pushilin, would not be joining them.
If that’s the case, the pro-Russian separatists will not have representation on the sidelines nor participate in talks with leaders from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, the diplomat said. Nor will they participate in a trilateral meeting with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
This could, of course, change but if the separatist leaders are absent it will affect how the other parties approach the talks and the immediacy of any outcomes.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that European diplomats were making “one further effort” at negotiating a deal to resolve the crisis.
Meanwhile, fighting continued Tuesday in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with the strategically important town of Debaltseve at the center of the conflict.
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A peace agreement was signed in September in Minsk. It called for a drawback of heavy weapons, self-rule in the eastern regions and a buffer zone to be set up along the Russia-Ukraine border.
But the agreement quickly disintegrated, and the violence continued.
The new plan envisions a much broader demilitarized zone to run along the current front lines.
All the while, the crisis in Ukraine, which stemmed from a trade agreement, has killed more than 5,000 people, including many civilians, and forced more than 1.5 million from their homes, according to the United Nations.
CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh, Catherine Shoichet, Khushbu Shah, Matthew Chance, Jim Acosta, Frederik Pleitgen, Radina Gigvoa and journalist Victoria Butenko in Kiev, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
