Contact Group work not affected by new military operation in E. Ukraine: Kiev's envoy

KIEV, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The Joint Forces Operation (JFO), a new military operation recently launched in eastern Ukraine, has not affected the work of the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the conflict, Kiev's envoy said Tuesday.

Speaking at a briefing in Kiev, Leonid Kuchma, a representative of the Ukrainian government in the Contact Group, told reporters that the diplomatic team continues functioning in the normal mode.

Kuchma spoke positively of the new format of the military operation in Donbas, saying it will "bring more discipline" to the ranks of the Ukrainian forces.

"It is necessary to ensure that all of our volunteer battalions are under the same command and all our armed formations are united," Kuchma said.

On April 30, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree to replace the four-year-long "anti-terror" operation in Donbas ruled by the Security Service of Ukraine with the JFO controlled by the army.

Earlier this month, Boris Gryzlov, Russia's envoy to the Contact Group, said that the JFO will not contribute to the peaceful settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine.

The conflict between government troops and pro-independence rebels in Ukraine's eastern region of Donbas has been underway since April 2014, claiming about 10,000 lives.

The Contact Group is a group of representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that was formed as a means to facilitate a diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

Insurgent representatives have also attended the meetings of the diplomatic group. Enditem