KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2020) Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday that he had initiated talks at the level of the Normandy Four foreign ministers to discuss the settlement of the crisis in eastern Ukraine and expressed hope that Russia would agree with the proposal.
"I am directly engaged in dialogue with my colleagues � with the foreign ministers of the countries that take part in the Normandy format. Just recently, I have initiated another talks between the ministers ... we are waiting for an answer," Kuleba said in an interview with Ukraine's Segodnya tv channel.
According to the diplomat, the previous talks at the foreign minister level did not take place because "the Russian side did not find an opportunity to take part in it."
"Now, I reminded my colleagues that we still need to talk. I hope this time he [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov] will respond positively and we will be able to substantively and constructively discuss key issues that are worth the attention of ministers," Kuleba added.
The conflict in Ukraine began in 2014, when the army launched an offensive against the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, referred to together as Donbas, after they proclaimed independence from Kiev. Their decision came in response to what they consider to have been a coup in Kiev that toppled the old government in February of that year.
In February 2015, the warring parties signed a set of agreements in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, hence their name, with the mediation of the so-called Normandy Four group, comprising France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine. The agreements stipulate that Kiev and Donbas maintain a ceasefire, pull forces from the contact line, set up safety zones, amnesty, and resume the economic opportunities and social benefits of Donbas residents, as well as for Ukraine to carry out constitutional reforms that will decentralize the power and give parts of Donetsk and Luhansk a special status.
On December 9, 2019, the Normandy group adopted a joint communique in Paris at their first summit in three years, also reaching an agreement to meet in Berlin in four months to continue efforts toward Donbas peace. The communique affirmed the Minsk accords as the basis for the crisis settlement, envisioned the separation of forces in three new locations across Donbas, and also called for a ceasefire. However, the summit has not been held yet, including due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
