Norman Format summit is expected to be held in Astana in the end of January, Tengrinews reports citing Akorda.
Norman Format summit is expected to be held in Astana in the end of January, Tengrinews reports citing Akorda.
On January 15, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had a phone conversation.
During the phone conversation initiated by the Ukrainian side, they discussed the current situation in Ukraine and the bilateral ties between the two countries in the economy, energy and military.
Poroshenko expressed gratitude to the Kazakh President for his support and for his offer of Astana as a platform for the Norman format summit.
According to Petro Poroshenko, foreign ministers of the Norman Quartet (Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine) and a contact group of Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE will meet in the coming days to discuss the agenda of the summit in Kazakhstan’s Astana.
He also said that the four sides agreed to postpone the summit. Now it is more likely that it will be held in January's end.
In addition, the Ukrainian President confirmed his adherence to holding the high-level summit in Astana.
Foreign Ministers of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine met this Monday, January 12, in Berlin for talks on Ukrainian crisis and implementation of the Minsk agreement. However, the meeting once again demonstrated the difficulties in finding a common ground and eliminating the obstacles hindering full implementation of the Minsk peace plan.
Therefore, since the meeting did not produce the desired outcomes, the countries still have some disagreements about the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict and about the summit in Astana.
In these coming days, a contact group of Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE is expected to meet to bridge these differences. If the progress is made, then the foreign ministers will meet again.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also believes that now everything depends on the outcomes of the negotiations of the contact group. “There is an understanding that after the meeting of the contact group, which, we hope, will meet in the coming days, the ministers of the Norman Quartet will meet again and discuss the prospects and schedule of the possible summit in Astana," Lavrov said after the meeting in Berlin.
By Assel Satubaldina