MOSCOW – There has been no movement in terms of preparations for a Normandy summit so far, but its participants still want to hold such a meeting, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said.
“At the moment, I would say that no serious movement in terms of preparations for the upcoming summit meeting of the Normandy format can be seen,” Ushakov said.
He underlined that Russia’s position is well-known. “We want the new summit to be thoroughly prepared, in particular to have draft of upcoming final agreements agreed on in advance, and to have the summit outline some additional steps to implement the Minsk Agreements rather than to nail down Kyiv’s desire to review current agreements, to review the comprehensive plan,” he said.
According to Ushakov, Russia is ready for the summit.
“In particular, during their conversation [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel agreed to once again instruct both advisors and foreign ministries to step up preparations and to once again try to synchronize and coordinate the positions,” Ushakov said.
Putin had a telephone conversation with Merkel last week. It is expected that he will have a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Oct. 21 evening.
