Prystaiko Called Ministerial "Norman Meetings" Ineffective

Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko, answering a question about holding a meeting of foreign ministers in the "Norman format", said that experience has shown their inefficiency. "I have never heard from France, Germany or Russia that we will hold such a meeting," he said during a press conference at the Foreign Press Association in Rome, answering a question about the possibility of holding a meeting in a "Norman format" at the level of foreign ministers on the sidelines of the Munich conference. "I’ll come to Munich, I hope that the four of us will be there ... If I was given the choice to go to the ministerial meeting or prepare for the presidential meeting in April, as agreed in December, I would bet on April" - added Pryestaiko. “We met with (Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey) Lavrov in December on the sidelines of the Ministerial Council, then we all got together and realized that the ministerial meetings in the format of the Norman Four are not very effective. The leaders decided that this work should be removed from the ministers’ weak hands and to be done by ourselves. So be it, " he stressed out. The so-called Norman negotiations format on Ukraine, with the participation of leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France acts since June 2014. Namely then, during the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the landing of the Allied forces in Normandy the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany for the first time discussed the settlement of the conflict in the Donbass. Since then, a number of telephone conversations and summits have taken place as well as contacts between foreign ministers.