Previous Normandy format agreements need to be fulfilled before new talks
Dmitry Peskov emphasized that the "high-level meetings must involve preparation, and shouldn’t be spontaneous, inefficient and lacking in content"
MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. It is necessary to fulfill some previous agreements in order to hold new meetings of the leaders of the Normandy format, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Friday.
"We wanted this meeting to take place several years ago, and we believe that it should have been held a long time ago and that [such meetings] need to take place on a regular basis," the Kremlin spokesman noted.
"But for this, it is necessary to fulfill at least some of the previous agreements," Peskov mentioned. The spokesman said that Moscow was satisfied that bilateral consultations were taking place and that the long-awaited next round of the Normandy Four’s work was held.
Peskov also pointed out that it was challenging to talk about the Normandy summit amid Kiev’s rhetoric in relation to the Minsk accords. "Let’s face it when Kiev says that the implementation of the Minsk accords is equivalent to the collapse of Ukraine, and then the foreign ministry claims that complying with these agreements on Russia’s terms is impossible, it is extremely challenging to talk about any summits," the Kremlin spokesman went on to say.
The spokesman emphasized that the "high-level meetings must involve preparation, and shouldn’t be spontaneous, inefficient and lacking in content."