The head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andrey Yermak, announced that all participants of the upcoming Normandy Format (Germany, Russia, France and Ukraine) meeting of political advisers had confirmed their attendance.
“This is a very powerful signal, meaning that the Normandy Format has been unblocked at last <…>. All envoys (political advisers) have confirmed their participation,” he told Ukraine’s ICTV channel.
“I hope that our partners from Germany and France would take a proactive stance during these talks. We don’t have much time or many opportunities for long discussions,” the Ukrainian official continued. “I think that we will stand united with our partners. That is why, I think, we will have an opportunity to talk about ceasefire, which is very important.”
He reiterated Ukraine’s earlier proposal to include Germany and France into the process of ceasefire verification.
At the same time, he stressed that “no prerequisites have been named for the advisers’ meeting,” including the demand to revoke a bill on transition period in eastern Ukrainian areas outside the Kiev government’s control.
