MINSK, November 22. /TASS/. There is still no possibility in sight for another ministerial meeting of the Normandy Quartet (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine) since a road map on Donbass, that the ministers will have to approve, hasn’t been agreed on yet, Russian top diplomat Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
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- Normandy Four meeting in Berlin offers hope for Minsk accords’ implementation — Lavrov
- Russian diplomat: Meeting of Normandy Four’s foreign ministers depends on road map plan
- Germany sees no reason to change Normandy format — Foreign Ministry
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"The Normandy Quartet leaders gave instructions to their foreign policy aides to draw up a road map, the aides have been maintaining constant contacts with each other," the Russian top diplomat said. "The aides have been working to outline the sequence of steps, taking into account the principle of simultaneous efforts, agreed on by the four leaders in Berlin. The principle concerns security sphere and political reforms that the Ukrainian authorities should carry out according to the Minsk agreements dated February 12, 2015. The leaders also said that as soon the aides prepared a road map, the four countries’ foreign ministers would gather to approve it."
"A Normandy Quartet ministerial meeting hinges on an approvable road map. Such consensus is not is sight yet," Lavrov added.
The Minsk agreements are crucial for settling the conflict in Donbass, they stipulate introducing a ceasefire, withdrawing troops, declaring amnesty, restoring economic relations, providing special status to the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as well as conducting constitutional reform in Ukraine aimed at decentralization of power.
On October 20, at the Normandy Quartet summit in Berlin, the four leaders decided to draw up a road map on the Minsk agreements implementation by late November. The road map should clarify the steps the parties need to take, their schedule as well as the time frame.