LUHANSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th May, 2021) Adding the US or other countries into the Normandy Format will not be beneficial for the Donbas settlement, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), Leonid Pasechnik, said in an interview with Sputnik.
In late April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested expanding the existing Normandy Four with a parallel format with other participants.
"I am far from thinking that including a number of additional sides � one or two, the United States, someone else � will lead to a positive result of any kind. I just have an impression that Ukraine is trying to pull more of its allies into the Normandy Format so it could be easier to pressure the Russian Federation, which is saying: guys, go sit at the negotiating table with Donbas," Pasechnik said.
The official went on to further criticize the initiative.
"More and more participants are being pulled into the conflict, which leads to its escalation, not the resolution," Pasechnik noted.
Since April 2014, the Ukrainian government has been conducting a military operation against the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The Normandy format was created by Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine to formulate a solution for the ongoing conflict.
