2022-01-27T14:13:00+02:00 Politics 2024-06-15T06:21:17+03:00

Ukrainian news

Advisors To Normandy Four Leaders Adopt Joint Communiqué On Results Of Talks – Presidential Office

Advisors To Normandy Four Leaders Adopt Joint Communiqué On Results Of Talks – Presidential Office

The advisors to the leaders of the Normandy Format countries (Ukraine, Russia, France, Germany) adopted a joint communiqué on the results of the talks.

The press service of the Presidential Office has said this in a statement, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The meeting of political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Format countries ended in Paris. Head of the Presidential Office, Andrii Yermak, took part in it. As a result of the event, a joint communiqué was agreed and an agreement was reached on the next meeting in two weeks in Berlin. The negotiations of the advisers in Paris continued for more than eight hours," it says.

In their communique, the representatives of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia stressed that they are determined to reduce the current differences in order to advance the negotiation process.

The advisers said they support the unconditional observance of the ceasefire, which was agreed on July 22, 2020, despite disagreements on other issues of the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

"The parties also discussed the importance of intensifying the work of the Trilateral Contact Group and its working groups in order to make rapid progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements," the joint communiqué says.

The first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation in the Trilateral Contact Group/member of the Ukrainian Parliament Andrii Kostin, who also took part in the meeting of advisers, noted that the conciseness of the joint communiqué demonstrates that the negotiations were not easy, but the parties tried to find common ground.

"The very fact of the resumption of the work of the Normandy Format is a very positive signal. Today, a very meaningful and difficult conversation took place - a kind of audit of the implementation of both the Minsk agreements and the agreements of the Normandy Format leaders from 2019," Yermak said in a comment to media representatives on completion of negotiations in Paris.

The head of the Presidential Office emphasized that the communiqué adopted following the meeting is the first document that has been agreed upon since the summit of the Normandy Four leaders in December 2019.

According to him, the parties have many disagreements on the vision of the implementation of the Minsk agreements, however, there is a mood to move forward in the negotiation process.

“Today, our discussion was around the war that is taking place in Donbas, around the Minsk agreements and what is being considered in the Normandy Format. But I absolutely clearly stated that today, we expect de-escalation not only regarding the occupied territories, but in general, the de-escalation around Ukrainian borders ", Yermak said.

He stressed that a joint statement on the need to observe the ceasefire is a step forward, although it is small.

The Head of the Office of the President expressed hope that a constructive discussion would also take place at the meeting in Berlin in two weeks to yield results.

"The work continues, Ukraine, as always, is ready for negotiations, for meetings 24/7, because for us, for President Zelenskyy, for the whole team, the goal is to end the war, return our territories. And today, it is also the removal of tension, de-escalation around the Ukrainian borders," Yermak concluded.

As Ukrainian News Agency reported, earlier, Yermak said that all participants in the Normandy Format supported a stable ceasefire, which should operate without any conditions.