Putin plans to withdraw Gryzlov from Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas
Russian President Vladimir Putin will decide very soon on the structure of the Presidential administration. The changes will also affect the foreign policy direction, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
The Russian representative in the Trilateral Contact Group negotiating Donbas settlement, Boris Gryzlov, may take a post of the presidential envoy in the Central Federal District of Russia, although this has not yet officially confirmed. On Mary 30, Gruzlov took part in the regular meeting of the contact Group in Minsk.
According to Kommersant, if this information is confirmed, this change will not affect the activities of the Trilateral Contact Group. A career diplomat and former Ambassador in Syria, Azamat Kulmuhametov, was a Special Representative of Russia in the Group since April 27, 2015, and he “perfectly understands the issue of Ukrainian crisis,” Kommersant writes.
“A special representative is a workhorse,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained. “He goes into all details and subtleties, provides a line determined by plenipotentiary who, in turn, reports to the country’s leadership.”