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 agreements, and nothing is happening, “said Putin.
“Even the law on the special status of Donbas, which was adopted by the Parliament of Ukraine, has not yet entered into force. This is a key element of the agreement. It is as if it is supposed to be this way. Everybody is waiting for Russia to fulfill the Minsk agreements, but everybody prefers not to notice that Kyiv’s authorities are doing nothing,” he added.
Putin expects the election winner to be capable of negotiations.
“By the way, we will in any case respect the choice of Ukrainian people and will work with everybody,” he said.
The Normandy Four is the negotiations format on the resolution of the conflict in the Donbas, which includes Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia.
The last Normandy Four summit was held in the autumn of 2016.