The “Normandy format” should remain in its former European composition, said Roderich Kiesewetter, member of the German Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee, commenting on the possibility of the United States joining this format.
“I think this is a European format and should remain European”, – Kizevetter said, commenting on the initiative to expand the “Norman format” at the expense of the United States.
He also noted that “the new Ukrainian president has advanced” to resolve the conflict. “He changed the position of Ukraine. And I hope that Russia will also … better cooperate with Ukraine. We expect both sides to adhere to the “Norman format” agreement as well as the Minsk process”, – the agency’s interlocutor added.
In an interview with RIA Novosti in July, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said that Russia does not object to initiatives to expand the “Norman format” at the expense of the United States and Great Britain, but France and Germany should also agree with this, as long as there is no such certainty.
On Tuesday, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the idea of connecting the United States to the “Norman format” in Ukraine did not find support among the participants. He noted that the United States, however, can use its influence in Kiev in order to facilitate the speedy fulfillment by Ukraine of its obligations under the Minsk agreements.
The problem of resolving the Ukrainian crisis is being discussed at negotiations in various formats, in particular, in the “Norman format”. In Warsaw, they proposed moving the negotiations to the “Geneva format”, that is, with the participation of the United States and Poland as a state neighboring the Russian Federation and Ukraine. However, ceasefire agreements were reached only in Minsk, during the meetings of the contact group mediated by the Russian Federation and the OSCE.