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Top Russian official arrives in Berlin for meeting of Normandy Four political advisers

According to a source from the Russian delegation, the meeting will discuss the implementation of the outcomes of the 2019 Paris summit

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Kremlin official comments on lengthy Berlin-hosted Normandy Four dialogue

BERLIN, January 11./TASS/. Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Executive Office Dmitry Kozak has arrived in Berlin to take part in a meeting of the Normandy Quartet’s (Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France) political advisers, the Russian Embassy in Germany reports.

According to a source from the Russian delegation, the meeting will "discuss the implementation of the outcomes of the 2019 Paris summit in terms of political settlement of the conflict" in the east of Ukraine.

Sources from the German Cabinet said in reply to a request from TASS that the political advisers "maintain close and permanent contact," without elaborating, though.

The previous meeting of the Normandy Quartet’s political advisers took place in Berlin on September 11, 2020.

Dates of a new summit of the Normandy Quartet leaders can be discussed only after agreements of the previous meeting are implemented, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on December 23.

"Before talking about dates, it is necessary to sum up somehow the implementation of those agreements reached [at a summit] in Paris [in December 2019]. And in this respect you know that there is nothing particularly to brag about," he noted.

At the latest summit in Paris on December 9, 2019, the participants passed a final statement, supporting amendments to the Ukrainian constitution based on the "Steinmeier formula" and enshrining a special status for Donbass in the Ukrainian constitution, as well as expressed adherence to the establishment of a complete ceasefire in Donbass. However, most of the points have remained on paper as of yet.

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