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Kremlin expects date for Normandy Four summit to be determined soon

The Kremlin welcomed Ukraine’s signing of the Steinmeier Formula

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov

© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. The Kremlin expects that a date for the next Normandy Four summit will be determined in the near future, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

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"The signing [of the ‘Steinmeier Formula’ - TASS] took place only yesterday, so now all interested parties and their representatives will work on the prospects for holding such a summit. We hope that things will get clearer in the near future," he said.

Peskov welcomed Ukraine’s signing of the Formula and expressed hope for progress in the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.

"The confirmation of the ‘Steinmeier Formula,’ which, by the way, was approved by the Normandy Four countries, including Ukraine, a few years ago, is a positive fact and undoubtedly an important step towards the implementation of previous agreements," he pointed out.

"There is hope that we will continue moving towards the implementation of the Minsk Agreements because it is the only way to resolve the conflict in southeastern Ukraine," the Kremlin spokesman added.

Following Tuesday’s meeting of the Contact Group on resolving the conflict in Donbass, Russian Envoy Boris Gryzlov said all parties had agreed that the Steinmeier Formula would become part of Ukraine’s legislation. According to Gryzlov, "a procedure to enforce the law on the special status of certain areas in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions has been approved."

Steinmeier formula

In late 2015, then German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier put forward a plan that later became known as the "Steinmeier formula." The plan stipulates that special status be granted to Donbass in accordance with the Minsk Agreements. In particular, the document envisages that Ukraine’s special law on local self-governance will take effect in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions on a temporary basis on the day of local elections, becoming permanent after the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) issues a report on the vote’s results.

The aides to the leaders of the Normandy Four countries (Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine) approved the Formula in September 2019. They also agreed that all members of the Contact Group should sign the document.

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