Ukrainian President says he is ready to meet separately with Putin, Merkel and Macron to discuss Donbas
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to meet with each of the leaders of the "Normandy Four" if negotiations on the Donbas are postponed, Zelensky said at the forum "Ukraine 30. Culture, media, tourism" in Kyiv, UNIAN reports.
He said that Kyiv is now "in any case" preparing for a meeting in the "Normandy format" with the leaders of Russia, Germany and France. But, according to him, if this does not happen, he is ready to personally talk with each of the leaders.
"If, as they say, "the mountain does not go to Mohammed", it's okay, I will meet with everyone separately," the head of state said, stressing that the negotiations on the Donbas will not be postponed permanently.
The "Normandy Four" is a group of leaders of four countries (Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany) created to resolve the armed conflict in the Donbas. The last meeting in the "Normandy format" took place in December 2019 in Paris. Then the parties agreed to adopt the so-called "Steinmeier formula", a mechanism for the gradual implementation of the Minsk agreements. New talks were planned last year in Berlin but were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On January 12, 2021, a meeting of advisors to the leaders of the Normandy Four countries was held in Berlin.
The head of the Ukrainian Presidential Administration, Andriy Yermak stated in February that the Minsk agreements (provide for a ceasefire in the Donbass, withdrawal of weapons, the creation of local self-governing administration in the territories of unrecognized republics and the holding of elections in the DPR and LPR) in the current form is almost impossible to implement.
In early March, Kyiv accused the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic of violating the truce in the Donbas, after the DPR authorities allowed their troops to open pre-emptive fire on Ukrainian positions.