The Normandy format of meetings dealing with the conflict in Ukraine has not ceased to exist, but Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan to meet with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in this format at the upcoming G20 summit, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
“The Normandy format is continuing to exist, but there will be no such a meeting” during the G20 summit, Peskov told journalists on August 31.
“There will be separate meetings with President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel,” Peskov said.
“Contacts are continuing, and all countries concerned keep stressing that there is no alternative to the Minsk Agreements,” Peskov said.
Asked whether Moscow is ready to negotiate with Kyiv without mediators to settle the crisis in Donbas, Peskov replied, “It depends on what to discuss concerning Donbas. If the matter is about the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, this implementation should be chiefly ensured by Donbas and Kyiv.”
“Moscow is not a party to the conflict. And in this particular case, if you read the text of the Minsk Agreements, which is commonly available, you are unlikely to find any clause on Moscow’s obligations on implementing these or those provisions. Russia, along with Germany and France, is a guarantor of these agreements,” he said.
