Council of Europe Supports Putin's, Macron's Readiness to Resume Normandy Talks on Ukraine

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2019) The Council of Europe (CoE) fully supports the statements of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, about the possibility of resuming negotiations in the Normandy format to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, a spokesperson for CoE Secretary General, Daniel Holtgen, said on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, Macron, during a meeting with Putin, announced that he would like to speed up the process of resolving the conflict in Ukraine in the near future and considers it necessary to hold a meeting of the Normandy format. At the same time, he added that in addition to security, it is important to discuss the political process in southeastern Ukraine. Putin stressed that there was no alternative to the Normandy format.

"President #Macron and President #Putin consider restart of #Ukraine talks 'within weeks' in the Normandy format.

Very good news. The Council of Europe and Secretary General [Thorbjorn] Jagland fully support the process," Holtgen said on Twitter.

A few days later, on August 24-26, the G7 summit will be held in the French city of Biarritz. At the beginning of the meeting with Putin, Macron said that the Normandy Four summit could be prepared during the negotiations.

Since April 2014, the Ukrainian government has been conducting a military operation against the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which declared their independence after a power change in Kiev a few months prior. Prospects for peace have been discussed in various formats, including the so-called Normandy format, which includes France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine. Despite several documents on de-escalation adopted over this time, the warring parties have continued to violate ceasefires established by them.