Moscow cautiously optimistic about Kiev envoy's meeting with insurgent leaders

Russia is cautiously optimistic about the meeting between the envoy of Ukraine and insurgent leaders in eastern Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

The two sides held preliminary consultations in the run-up to the Minsk negotiations mainly because the militia are skeptical about prospects of the Minsk process against the backdrop of offensives by Ukrainian government forces, Peskov said.

"Moscow hopes the discussion will continue and will be reflected in issues like ceasefire, the disengagement of artillery and rocket systems, the beginning of work on the demarcation line, and the exchange of prisoners of war," he was quoted by TASS as saying.

The realization of these goals depends largely on Kiev's decision on its official representative at the Minsk negotiations, Peskov said.

The spokesman also expressed Moscow's regret over the absence of representatives of the Ukrainian military at the meeting.

Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the political organization Ukrainian Choices, attended the meeting on Monday in Donetsk on behalf of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, while the two self-claimed republics -- the Lugansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic -- were represented by their respective leaders, Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky. Endi