Russian Foreign Ministry publishes confidential correspondence with Germany and France
The Foreign Russian Ministry has published diplomatic correspondence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with the foreign ministers of France and Germany Jean-Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas.
The letters of Lavrov and the German and French ministers are posted openly on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russian Foreign Ministry explained such a step by the fact that the position of the Russian side and its approach to the Normandy format meetings is allegedly regularly distorted.
"To prevent further speculation, the Russian Foreign Ministry decided to publish the primary sources and the diplomatic correspondence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov with the foreign ministers of Germany and France H. Maas and J.-I. Le Drian," the Ministry said.
In on of the published letters, Lavrov called the preparation of the final statement a condition of the Normandy format meeting and sent a draft of such a statement to his colleagues. The Russian Ministry also published this document, which contains a requirement on the organization of a "direct dialogue between Kyiv and Donetsk and Luhansk."
Lavrov also blamed Ukraine for violating the ceasefire.
In addition, the Russian side demands that Ukraine withdraw the draft law "On the basics of state policy of the transition period" and also abolish a number of existing Ukrainian laws.
"We believe that in the interests of the settlement, it is necessary to stop the legislative activities carried out within the framework of the Minsk "Package of Measures", including the laws adopted by Ukraine on the state language, education and indigenous peoples, as well as the draft law "On the Basics of State Policy of the Transition Period" submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on August 9, 2021. Their the adoption will hamper Ukraine's implementation of the Minsk agreements and will be tantamount to it withdrawing from them," reads the draft joint statement sent by the Russian Foreign Ministry to the foreign ministers of France and Germany.
Germany and France replied that the statements of the Russian Federation do not correspond to the reality, and the proposals of the Russian side are guaranteed not to be accepted in the Normandy format.
In a letter of November 16, Lavrov warned the German and French ministers that he would publish correspondence with them on November 17.
On October 11, the German Chancellor and the President of France held separate talks with Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. As a result of these negotiations, it was decided to intensify work in the Normandy Four format and organize a meeting of the foreign ministers.
On November 15, French President Emmanuel Macron during a telephone conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin said that France is ready to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
On November 16, French and German Foreign Ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas issued a joint statement following a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. The document contains a warning about the "serious consequences" for the Russian Federation in case of further attempts to violate the territorial integrity of Ukraine.