MOSCOW, April 12. /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry is expecting to receive on April 14 the U.S. reply to the proposed agenda for a four-party meeting on Ukraine, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Saturday, April 12.

“In the light of the continuing efforts to explore the possibility of organising a four-party meeting (European Union, Russia, United States, and Ukraine) on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, we have been surprised to hear the American State Department and the European External Action Service say that the decision to hold it had already been made. To avoid inconsistencies, we would like to confirm that the preparation of the event is continuing, but there is no common understanding either about its agenda or format,” he said.

“If the U.S. has already reached an agreement with other participants among themselves without Russia and determined both the time and place of the meeting and the intention to discuss the situation not only in Ukraine but also around it, maybe they can also announce ‘the results’ right now?” Lukashevich said, adding, “Maybe they will also say how they are going to pay Ukraine’s debt to Gazprom?”

“Moreover, the Americans have come up with their own vision for the negotiations as if it has been agreed with all the other parties. At a briefing on April 11 State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki used knowingly unacceptable wording and insisted that representatives of the present Ukrainian government would act on behalf of all regions of Ukraine, ‘including Crimea’,” Lukashevich said.

“Washington can keep engaging in wishful thinking. But this will lead nowhere,” he said. “What really needs to be in the focus of attention is how to ensure that the present Kiev authorities act to engage all key political forces in Ukraine and all regions in the search for ways to overcome this grave crisis the country is living through,” Lukashevich said.

“As for the four-party proper, we expect to receive on April 14 the promised American reaction to our proposals concerning its agenda,” he added.