Belarus is ready to provide a platform for negotiations to resolve the situation in eastern Ukraine at any level and in any format, including Norman, said Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic Vladimir Makei.
“You know our position: we are always ready to do everything possible so that the conflict in Ukraine is completed as soon as possible, including that we are ready to provide any meetings – in the Norman format, the expanded Norman format, in other formats – if we receive appropriate requests”, – Makei told reporters on Monday in Minsk.
At the same time, the minister noted that so far “there have been no concrete proposals”.
The date of the summit is currently being discussed in the “Norman format”. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Pristayko said on Monday that there was no specific date for the meeting of the leaders of the “Norman format” to resolve in the Donbass, but the parties had fulfilled all the conditions for holding it.
Earlier, the Donbass contact group agreed on the “Steinmeier formula”, according to which the law on the special procedure for local self-government in certain areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions comes into force on an interim basis on election day and on an ongoing basis – after the publication of an OSCE report on the election results.
In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed LPR and DPR, which declared independence after the coup in Ukraine in February 2014. According to the latest UN data, about 13 thousand people became victims of the conflict.
The problem of resolving the Ukrainian crisis is discussed at negotiations in various formats, in particular in the Norman format (RF, France, Germany, Ukraine). But ceasefire agreements were reached only in Minsk, during meetings of the contact group mediated by the Russian Federation and the OSCE. However, even after armistice agreements between the parties to the conflict, skirmishes continue.