Putin Specified to Macron Conditions for the Normandy Four Meeting

The summit in the Normandy format needs to be “carefully prepared”. Kyiv and Germany previously reported that it is enough to sign the Steinmeier formula to hold the meeting of leaders of countries The summit in the Normandy format needs to be “carefully prepared”, this work will be continued by the assistants of the leaders of the four countries and the Foreign Ministry. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the Kremlin website says. When discussing the situation in Ukraine, country leaders noted that there were no measures which were alternative to the Minsk agreements to resolve the crisis in the country. Earlier, Russian president’s assistant Yuri Ushakov said that Moscow did not observe progress in preparing for the summit. According to him, after the signing of the Steinmeier formula on October 10, “mixed messages” began to sound from Kyiv. The signing of the formula, as well as the disengagement of forces and assets from the settlements of Zolote and Petrovske in Donbas became the main conditions for the Normandy Four summit. The disengagement of forces has not yet occurred due to the shooting renewed by the military. Nonetheless, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided that signing the Steinmeier formula is enough to hold the summit. RBC