The U.S. is not going to join talks in the Normandy format between senior officials of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia to resolve the conflict in Donbas, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch said.
In her words, this does not mean that the U.S. is inactive at the diplomatic level. The U.S. is cooperating with Ukraine, conducts consultations with France and Germany, Yovanovitch told Radio Liberty on Nov. 2.
According to her, from time to time, the U.S. also holds meetings with the Russian side to see if there are ways to achieve constructive progress in this process. “This is our support of the Normandy Four,” Yovanovitch said.
When asked why the U.S. does not join any of the formats of the Donbas talks – either the Normandy Four or the Minsk format, Yovanovitch said that the U.S. supports Ukraine in other ways, and it is very active in this support. “We are in constant contact both with the Ukrainian authorities and the same way with our partners in France and Germany,” she said.
As reported, at the end of October 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was not against engaging the U.S. in the Normandy talks.
