MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. Moscow is skeptical about the idea of Washington’s joining the "Normandy Four" and the Contact Group on Ukraine. The United States is already involved in defusing the Ukrainian crisis, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov told the Austrian newspaper Der Standard. The text of the interview has been posted on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"It is very difficult to change the rules in the middle of the game," he said. "The process is very delicate, this is obvious for everyone." "The Americans’ formal presence or absence is not the point," the diplomat said. "We have our own channels of dialogue with them on the issue. And the United States certainly offers consultations to Germany, France and Ukraine. Of course, the Americans are involved in the resolution of this conflict, formalities do not really matter."
Commenting on the possible deployment of a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine, Meshkov noted that the OSCE mission was already working in the country and was performing its functions. "We finally reinforced the mission. Now it is necessary to make sure that it fulfills its tasks in full, including the verification issues, the use of drones, satellite images and so on," he said. "We must use the tools available today."