MINSK. Oct 31 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian military effort in southeastern Ukraine does not match the definition of anti-terrorist operation (ATO), head of the scientific and advisory board at the CIS Anti-Terrorist Center (ATC) Marianna Kochubei told reporters in Minsk on Thursday.
"I am not inclined to give political assessments, but this does not fall under the ATO definition either by its duration or its scale," she said.
It is known that Kyiv announced the launch of the so-called "anti-terrorist operation" in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in mid-April 2014 after supporters of federalization held mass demonstrations in those regions. The Ukrainian army and National Guard have since been waging a massive military operation against the militia forces in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.
The CIS ATC highly appreciates Belarusian efforts, and in particular, those of its President Alexander Lukashenko, to settle the crisis in southeastern Ukraine peacefully, Kochubei said.
"Slavic issues must be resolved on Slavic territory," Kochubei said. So the fact that Minsk has been chosen as a negotiating platform is "very good," she added.