There are no significant grounds for hoping for talks between the US State Department Special Representative Kurt Volker and presidential aide Vladislav Surkov on the Donbass issue.

This is an expert on security issues, Lieutenant-General Vasily Bogdan told the "Apostrophe".

The expert spoke about the importance of the EU position on the conflict in Donbass. "Kurt Volker stated that the EU, for its part, should also implement all measures to strengthen sanctions against Russia.

And, by the way, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister [Linas Linkevicius] said that EU sanctions will be extended not for six months but for a year, since Russia does not meet halfway both in the implementation of the Minsk agreements and in reducing the escalation on the eastern front, "noted he.

At the same time, the United States on the one hand presses sanctions, and on the other - leaves the door of negotiations open for Russia in the hope of "fitting into the international legal field".