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On March 30, a video conference was held between French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Among other things, they discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine. Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine asked not to negotiate Ukraine without Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a joint video conference late on March 30, according to the Elysee Palace.
During the video conference, they discussed, among other things, the situation in eastern Ukraine.
“The need for Russia to make a firm commitment to stabilize the ceasefire in Ukraine and develop ways to overcome the crisis in accordance with the Minsk agreements,” said the Elysee Palace.
The German government website notes that during the Ukraine discussion, Merkel and Macron called for negotiations in the Normandy format on the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
The Kremlin said that during the discussion on the war in Donbass, Putin “emphasized the importance of the Kiev authorities complying with all the agreements previously reached at the highest level, mainly in establishing a direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk and the solution of the legal aspects special status of Donbass “.
The Russian side expressed its deep concern about the escalation of the armed confrontation on the contact line caused by Ukraine and the real refusal to implement additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire regime agreed in July 2020 in the contact group. Political advisers to the leaders We will continue to work together, “the statement said. The Kremlin.
Other topics discussed during the conference included the fight against the pandemic, the situation in Belarus, Libya and Syria, Russia’s relations with the EU, as well as the poisoning of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The conversation between the leaders of Russia, France and Germany was announced on March 29. At the same time, Kremlin President Dmitry Peskov said today that Putin is not planning a conversation with Ukrainian President Zelensky.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko, commenting on the announced video conference, noted that the problems in solving the situation in Donbass should be considered only with the participation of Ukraine.
In 2014, immediately after the annexation of Crimea, Russia launched an armed aggression in eastern Ukraine. The fighting is between the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on the one hand, and the Russian army and the Russian-backed militants who control parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, on the other.
Negotiations on the resolution of the conflict in Donbass are taking place in the trilateral contact group in Minsk (Ukraine, Russia, OSCE), as well as in the Normandy format, with the participation of representatives of Ukraine, France, Germany and Russia.
On December 9, 2019, the last summit of the leaders of the Normandy Four was held in Paris. Its final communiqué establishes that the parties agreed to a ceasefire, the opening of new checkpoints, the exchange of detainees according to the formula of “all for all” until December 31, 2019, the withdrawal of forces and resources in three new areas in the Donbas. , and the extension of the law for one year. “On a special procedure for local self-government in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions” and the expansion of the mandate of the OSCE special monitoring mission. The agreements were partially fulfilled. The next summit was expected to take place in 2020, but this did not happen.
On January 12, 2021, the first conversations of this year’s advisers with the leaders of the Normandy Four took place in Berlin. The deputy head of the presidential administration of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Kozak, after the meeting, said that “there is nothing to boast about.”
The head of the TCG’s Ukrainian delegation to resolve the situation in Donbass, Leonid Kravchuk, announced preparations for a meeting of the leaders of the Normandy Four in April, but the Kremlin denied it.
On March 9, Zelenskiy said that if the summit does not take place, he is ready to meet with the leaders of the Normandy Four, Merkel, Macron and Putin, separately.
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