PARIS, October 13. /TASS/. French President Francois Hollande is ready to take part in the Normandy Four meeting in the five days ahead, "that will provide the decisive impetus to the initiatives for solving the crisis," the Elysee Palace said in a statement released after a telephone talk between the French leader and Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko.
"During the talk, the French president reiterated his determination to achieve a peaceful settlement to the Ukrainian crisis together with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. More than a year after the previous Normandy Four summit held in Paris, the efforts need to be stepped up to implement the Minsk agreements in the political field and in the security sphere," the statement says.
The president of France specifically noted that he "is ready to participate in the new Normandy Four summit," according to the statement. "He hoped that the parties would succeed in hammering out a road map that would clearly define further steps to finally allow Ukraine to restore its control over the Russian border," the statement added.
"There is an urgent need to create appropriate conditions for conducting elections in Eastern Ukraine in accordance with the OSCE’s standards. In this regard, it is particularly important to ensure the ceasefire and continue the disengagement process," the French president stressed.