Talking about a positive result from the Berlin meeting of the Normandy four (Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France) is hard. This was stated by Russia’s President Press Secretary Dmitriy Peskov, RIA Novosti reports.
"As you know, there were quite intensive expert talks in Minsk. Unfortunately, they haven’t managed to reach some kind of positive result. Nonetheless, considering that a year has passed since the last meeting in Paris, it was considered appropriate to meet to discuss where we are now, because the expert negotiations have not achieved tangible results. This requires additional attention from the heads of state", Peskov said.
He added that "no one denies the format of the Minsk agreements, so in this case the goal is to see where we are and ascertain what prevents us to fulfill the Minsk agreements".
At the same time, the French Foreign Ministry said that the aim of the summit in Normandy format is to force Ukraine to move forward on the issue of the special status of the Donbas region.
Note that Poroshenko has repeatedly stated that Kyiv will not advance in the political process until the execution of the security package.
The Head of State said he was not very optimistic about the summit.
This is the first meeting of the Normandy four this year. The previous time the leaders met in Paris on October 2, 2015.
Presidential Administration said that it is not expected to sign any documents at the meeting.
