The Russian top diplomat said the Package of
Measures negotiated in the Belarussian capital of Minsk has been an absolutely
uncontested document which enables the crisis to be settled.
MOSCOW,
December 2. /TASS/. Aides to the leaders of the Normandy Four group (comprising
Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany) could resume contacts in the near future,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a televised interview with the
Belarussian channel STV.
The Package
of Measures negotiated in the Belarussian capital of Minsk in February 2015
after the 17-hour talks "without any sleep or rest," was unanimously
approved by the United Nations Security Council and "up to now, it has
been an absolutely uncontested document which enables the crisis to be
settled," Lavrov said.
"The
other thing is that not everything it envisions has been implemented," the
Russian top diplomat said.
"However,
I think that we will continue efforts, including in Minsk, which provides its
venues for the Contact Group’s negotiations that will soon resume among aides
to the heads of the Normandy Four states," Lavrov said.
"When
President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko had suggested Minsk
be chosen as a venue for talks of the ‘Normandy Four’ created in June 2014, we
immediately supported the idea.
I do not
think it is reasonable to speak here whether it was agreed or not," Lavrov
answered to a question if the proposal had been agreed with Russia.
"That
was a sincere proposal backed at once by us, Ukraine, Germany and France,"
he added.
Normandy Four format
The first
meeting in the so-called Normandy Four format was held in France, on June 6,
2014, during celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the landing of allied
troops in Normandy, when the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany for
the first time held talks to find a solution to the conflict in southeast
Ukraine.
In February
2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French
President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko held
17-hour-long talks in Minsk, approving the Package of Measures for the
implementation of the Minsk agreements - the basis for peace in Donbass.
Source: ITAR-TASS 23-12-2017
