Kremlin Refutes Claims on Kozak's Proposal to Shut Down Normandy Process

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st July, 2020) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refuted on Friday reports envisaging that Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak proposed to scuttle the Normandy format talks on settling the conflict in Donbas stating its ineffectiveness.

Earlier, media reported that Kozak had sent a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's aide with copies for the representatives of France and Ukraine, in which he called the negotiations on Donbas at the level of political advisers meaningless and suggested abandoning this format.

"Kozak did not write or speak about any abandoning of the negotiations, and if this is alleged, it is a distortion," Peskov told reporters.

Peskov said that if the alleged letter was published in the Ukrainian media, "this is not the right way to conduct business in terms of very difficult negotiations on the conflict settlement in southeastern Ukraine."

The spokesman stressed that Russia's position remained unchanged and Moscow was still committed to the Minsk Accords.

"Russia remains committed to the Minsk agreements and believes that the Minsk package of measures is the only possible basis for continuing the search for a solution," Peskov said, adding that various agencies were involved in contacts on the Donbas settlement, and work at the level of aides to the Normandy Four leaders would continue.