One of the conditions for the meeting of the leaders of the Normandy Four (Ukraine, Germany, France, Russia) is the written approval of the Steinmeier formula at a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) for the Settlement in Donbas, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko has said in an interview with European Pravda.
When asked if Ukraine agrees to receive written confirmation of the Steinmeier formula before the Normandy summit, Prystaiko said: “Yes, this is one of the two conditions for the leaders to meet, which we agreed on. The second condition involves disengagement of troops at three control sections. Then the Russians added another third condition, which sounds like “the development of clear wordings to be declared by leaders.”
The minister noted that the TCG in Minsk on September 18, due to a technical misunderstanding, did not agree in writing on the conditions for the elections in the occupied part of Donbas.
“On Wednesday in Minsk, the Trilateral Contact Group actually complied with the Normandy Four’s instructions on the written approval of the text of this formula. They really should have done it, but there was a technical misunderstanding in the Trilateral Contact Group itself. And, indeed, the representative of Ukraine made certain remarks, which, I think, will be processed later,” Prystaiko said.
The minister did not rule out that the text that is being discussed at the meeting of the TCG might be amended. “What will it turn into – whether it will remain unchanged, or something will be added – this should be decided by the TCG,” he said.
Prystaiko noted that Ukraine agreed to “clearly written formulations that were discussed by advisers.”
“… in September 2019, the Normandy Four advisers did not agree on the Steinmeier formula but agreed on another clear wording. It also states that the law on special status applies on temporary basis, that is, on temporary conditions, from the moment of the election, and on an ongoing basis, it begins to act after the recognition by the OSCE/ODIHR of the fact that the elections meet high standards,” the foreign minister explained.
He noted that the general wording, on which the agreements had been reached, “causes a lot of interpretations,” which, in particular, always occur during negotiations in Minsk.
“But now it’s neither the Normandy Four’s task nor the Foreign Ministry’s – it’s the task assigned to the Trilateral Contact Group. When they reformulate it more precisely, we will then receive, see what happened to our proposal and see whether we can offer the leaders to meet,” the minister said.
