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Ukraine hinders Normandy Quartet's summit before Merkel steps down — Kremlin

Dmitry Peskov pointed out that holding a summit would be particularly important in a situation where there was a lack of results of the previously achieved agreements
German Chancellor Angela Merkel AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
© AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool

MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. Russia would have nothing against holding a Normandy Quartet summit before Angela Merkel steps down as Germany's federal chancellor but Ukraine creates hindrances to this, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Tuesday.

"We do know that such a wish (to hold a summit before Merkel goes - TASS) was expressed by various sides. It is true it would be very good. However, it is likewise important to remember that holding a summit meeting for meeting's sake will make no sense. It must be prepared well enough," he noted.

Asked if there was a risk the summit would fail to take place before Merkel was out of office, Peskov said: "Yes, such a risk does exist, of course. All of us would like to hold it as soon as possible. By and large, it is clear what is to be done for this. Our counterparts in Kiev possibly understand this even better than everybody else but, regrettably, they do not wish to do anything along these lines."

The Kremlin spokesman said holding a summit would be particularly important in a situation where there was a lack of results of the previously achieved agreements.

"The foreign ministries of the four countries and the political advisers have been making preparations for a possible summit and reviewing the current state of affairs in this field, but we are still unable to say any significant results have been achieved," Peskov added.