Russia's new envoy to contact group on Ukraine Boris Gryzlov said Saturday he was ready to engage in a dialogue with both sides of the conflict to find necessary compromise. Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed Russian Security Council member Gryzlov as the country's envoy to the Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation earlier in the day. "I emphasize — we are ready to engage in a dialogue with representatives of both sides of the conflict to eventually find the necessary compromise. Only then the peace will be restored on the Ukrainian land, enabling efforts to solve social and economic problems of the people," Gryzlov told RIA Novosti. He added that Minsk deal is the only opportunity to stop the civil war in Ukraine and the Russian side proceeds "from the necessity of complete and, most importantly, honest observance of the Minsk agreements." Southeastern Ukraine has been suffering from a crisis triggered by a military operation to suppress local independence supporters launched by Kiev authorities in April 2014 to quell secession moves. In February, representatives of the central government in Kiev and Donbas militias signed a deal on Ukrainian reconciliation in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Key points of the Minsk deal include a ceasefire, a weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, constitutional reforms, including a decentralization of power in the country, and the granting of special status to the Donbas region. On Tuesday, the last 2015 meeting of the trilateral Contact Group on conflict resolution in eastern Ukraine, consisting of Ukraine, Russia and OSCE representatives, took place in Minsk. The group agreed on a comprehensive ceasefire, starting on December 23 for the duration of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
