Contents tagged with Normandy Format

  • Ukrainian President Zelensky: preparations for the Normandy format meeting have started

    President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, at a joint briefing with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, said that the advisers of the member-countries of the Normandy format will meet soon to prepare for the meeting of the leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia, reports Ukrinform News Agency.

    "We agreed on the importance of restoring cooperation within the Normandy format. Our foreign policy advisers will meet soon and prepare the next meeting of the leaders. This is a key issue," …

  • Putin says he was not invited to the Normandy Four meeting in June

     Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said that nobody discussed the possibility of holding Normandy Four format leaders meeting in June with the Russian side, and there are no such negotiations in his working schedule, reports TASS.

    “I don’t know anything about this. Nobody discussed it with us. There is no such meeting in my work schedule,” said Putin commenting on the Petro Poroshenko's statement about his plans to meet the leaders of the Norman Four in June.

    Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry …

  • Germany and France insist on maintaining ‘Normandy format’ talks after elections in Ukraine

    Germany and France insisted on the G-7 group countries to continue their mediating efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Berlin and Paris consider it necessary to continue negotiations in the Normandy format regarding the future of eastern Ukraine, said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas during the consultations of the foreign ministers of the leading industrial countries which took place in Dinard, France, on Saturday, April 6.

    Maas said that both Germany and France hope for further …

  • Putin: Normandy format meetings before the elections in Ukraine meaningless

    Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his briefing to the Russian media, stated that meetings in the Normandy format before the presidential elections in Ukraine, which will take place on March 31, are meaningless.

    “At the moment, meeting in the Normandy format during the election campaign that is taking place in Ukraine, is pretty much meaningless because today’s Ukrainian authorities have not shown any desire to comply with the Minsk agreements. They do nothing to implement these …

  • Lavrov: holding Normandy format talks is 'sacrilege' after the assassination of Zakharchenko

    To hold Normandy format negotiations would be sacrilege after the assassination of the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the TV show Bolshaya Igra (“Big Game”) on Channel One, RIA Novosti reports  .

    “We don’t refuse the Normandy format but now it will be just inappropriate and sacrilege to gather for such a meeting, especially when neither Berlin nor Paris have expressed their condemnation of this …

  • Lavrov: Russia sees no reason for Normandy Format meeting

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on July 30 that he does not see the conditions for holding another Normandy Format (Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia) session at the highest level because “the leaders’ previous agreements have not been fulfilled”.

    “Until such a purely specific agreement of Normandy Four state officials on three specific settlements is carried out, holding another summit will not be very good for the Normandy Format’s reputation. Not to mention that in the …

  • German Foreign Minister anticipates difficult negotiations during the Normandy format talks

    In an interview with Bild, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that he expects difficult negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in the east of Ukraine in the so-called Normandy format that includes Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine.  After a 16-month break, a meeting of the foreign ministers of the four countries will take place in Berlin.

    The lack of progress in the implementation of the Minsk Agreements has complicated the situation for people in the east of Ukraine who want …

  • Russia voices demands ahead of Normandy Format meeting

    The Russian Foreign Ministry (MFA) will demand the withdrawal of forces from Stanytsia Luhanska and the documentation of the Steinmeier formula at a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Normandy Four on June 11.

    "Without implementing the process in Stanytsia Luhanska, Ukrainian security forces are significantly strengthening their positions near the settlements of Zolote and Petrivske, from which them and the Donbas militia withdrew troops and equipment in the autumn of 2016," stated the …

  • Volker: France and Germany taking 'small steps' in negotiations with Russia, US approaching more ambitiously

    In an interview with Voice of America, US State Department Special Representative Kurt Volker said that while the United States is in constant contact with European partners, the US approach to negotiating with Russia regarding the Donbas conflict sometimes differs from the approach taken by Germany and France.

    "First of all, I believe that France and Germany are very serious [partners of Ukraine]. I think they very clearly understand the nature of the conflict, and Russia's responsibility, …

  • Ukrainian intelligence chief explains why US and Russia have stopped Donbas negotiations

    The Kremlin has decided to stop negotiations on the Donbas and to push for better conditions because the Normandy Format countries and the US have not agreed to Russia’s demands, Ukraine’s former foreign intelligence chief Nikolai Malomuzh said in an interview with InfoResist news outlet.

    “In this situation they [the Russian government] have decided to raise the stakes, so to speak, in the geopolitical game, in view of the fact that there needs to be a stronger argument for continuing the …