New negotiations of the 'Normandy Format' to be held in Berlin
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has requested that representatives of the Normandy Four hold a meeting focusing on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
He has invited his colleagues from Russia, Ukraine and France to discuss a way to resolve the crisis in the Donbas. Negotiations in the Normandy Format will be held on the 11th of May in Berlin.
“I consider it necessary to make a new attempt to overcome the relationship barrier between Kiev and Moscow. Too much time has been lost already. The ceasefire has become increasingly fragile and the number of violations and victims is growing rapidly,” he said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag, which was published on the 1st of May.
According to Steinmeier, the preparation of local elections in eastern Ukraine should also be discussed. He has said that “there are concrete proposals” for this issue. He also said that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has presented an interesting initiative to stabilize the ceasefire. Germany currently holds the presidency of the OSCE.
Despite the truce agreed to on Orthodox Easter, three people were killed in eastern Ukraine last week as a result of clashes. Parties affected by the conflict have blamed each other for the ceasefire violations.