The position of Kiev according to Steinmeier formula confirms that much preparatory work is needed before the summit in the Norman format can take place. This was stated by the Russian leader’s Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“Yesterday’s situation once again confirms the correctness of the position taken by President Putin: that a meeting for the sake of a meeting can hardly be productive, and in order to get together, you first need to do a lot of preparatory work”, – TASS quoted Peskov as saying.
According to the Kremlin representative, Steinmeier’s formula was not determined by anything. Thus, Kiev’s promotion of conditions for signing the document is “a new position for all countries that previously declared their agreement with this formula”.
On September 18, the representative of Kiev refused to sign Steinmeier’s formula at the meeting of a contact group in Minsk.
The German Foreign Ministry, commenting on the decision of Kiev, noted that the purpose of the formula was to make the implementation of Minsk agreements possible.
At the same time, it was noted in Kiev that the Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky was ready to have a meeting in the Norman format on September 17, but the meeting did not take place, since Russia could not take part in it for “technical reasons”.