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Putin says his June schedule has no time slot for Normandy Quartet’s meeting

Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko earlier speculated that the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine might meet in June

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that nobody has discussed the possibility of a Normandy format meeting in June with Russia and there was no slot in his schedule for such talks.

"I know nothing about this. Nobody has discussed it with us. There is no such meeting on my timetable," Putin told the media when asked for a comment on Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko’s statement a meeting of the Normandy Quartet was due in June.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier told TASS Putin’s schedule did not envisage a meeting of the Normandy quartet in June 2019. "No such plans for now," Peskov said.

Speaking on 112 Ukraine TV Poroshenko speculated that the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine might meet in June on the sidelines of celebrations on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the allied landing in Normandy to discuss a settlement of Ukraine’s internal crisis.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said last week that it was too early to speculate about convening a meeting of the Normandy Quartet. "The current phase of the internal political processes in Ukraine is to be completed and a president elected first," he said. Also, Grushko believes it is of fundamental importance to Russia to ensure such a summit, if it is to be held, should herald progress in implementing the package of measures to enforce the Minsk Accords, which, as Moscow says, Kiev has defaulted on.