Normandy Quartet not disappointed in 'Minsk-2'

Normandy Quartet not disappointed in 'Minsk-2'

Yesterday, Paris held talks of the leaders of the Normandy Quartet, dedicated to the discussion of a settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine. The meeting of the Presidents of Russia, France and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Francois Hollande, and Petro Poroshenko, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel continued for about an hour in a narrow format, after which the sides switched to negotiations in an expanded format. The meeting, which lasted 4 hours and 50 minutes, ended without any joint documents or statements being adopted.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated after the talks that the participants achieved everything that could be achieved. "The fact that we could talk to each other, and talk specifically, is already generally positive," the Chancellor noted, adding that the Minsk process was always very hard. "Judging by what I've heard today, the two sides became closer. This day was important simply because we extensively discussed individual steps. Next, we should see how they will be carried out," Merkel said.

The German Chancellor and French President, who was the host of this meeting, stated that the ceasefire regime in the east of Ukraine has generally beem respected. "In terms of security, since the signing of the Minsk Agreements the biggest progress was reached, because the ceasefire regime is now generally respected, and because we were able to gradually begin the process of withdrawal of weapons," Hollande noted.

According to him, the participants of the Normandy Quartet expect the removal of weapons of caliber of less than 100 mm, which should begin from the line of contact in the east of Ukraine on October 3. "We have discussed the security problems in the east of Ukraine in order for the implementation of the previously reached agreement on the withdrawal of light weapons to start tomorrow morning," the French leader stated, stressing that he expects comparable progress with heavy weapons.

At the same time, Angela Merkel acknowledged that there is still no full implementation of the commitments on any position of the Minsk agreement by either side. "The situation in Debalcevo undermined the process, there is no complete withdrawal of heavy weapons yet, although we managed to outline ways to advance the process. There is still a lot of work to do in the framework of the Minsk agreements, but I have to mention the positive steps," the Chancellor summed up, adding that the Minsk agreements remain the basis for peace.

According to the Russian President's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, the parties held a truly constructive conversation in Paris. He noted that positive steps have been ascertained in terms of withdrawal of weapons and establishment of the reached agreements. The press secretary stressed that the meeting also discussed the mission of the OSCE in the context of extension of its mandate, and other humanitarian aspects. Speaking about the elections in Donbass, according to Peskov, Putin promised to call talks over these issues with the official representatives of the LPR and the DPR. "The President could not take on some obligations, and even more so he could not agree with some parameters," Peskov stressed.

At the same time, he confirmed that "a lot of time" has been devoted to the elections in eastern Ukraine. "In particular, it was emphasized that it is not necessary to talk about the elections separately from such other relevant items of the Minsk agreements as political reform and amnesty. This issue should be viewed as part of a complex of measures," Peskov reported.

At a press conference after the meeting, Francois Hollande assured that the Minsk process will continue. "We have agreed that the Foreign Ministers will meet in early November to discuss progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements," he pointed out.

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