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Russia suggested inviting US to Normandy Format, France, Germany reject it — Lavrov

The Russian Foreign Minister added that former US Secretary of State John Kerry during his regular visit to Moscow said: "If we are invited [to the Normandy Format], perhaps, we would think about it"

SOCHI, October 19. /TASS/. Moscow suggested inviting Washington to the Normandy Format negotiations, but Paris and Berlin refused point-blank, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday at the 18th Annual Meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.

Lavrov added that former US Secretary of State John Kerry during his regular visit to Moscow said: "If we are invited [to the Normandy Format], perhaps, we would think about it." "Then we asked the German and French sides, they refused point-blank and said: we should work in the format we established, in which the Minsk agreements were signed, only in this way," the top diplomat said.

On October 13, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the topic of the meeting of foreign ministers of the Normandy Four countries (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine) has been underway following the relevant agreements of Russian, French and German leaders based on the results of the trilateral telephone conversation on October 11. Kremlin said the sides agreed to hold the Normandy Four meeting at the level of foreign ministers to discuss among other things "the prerequisites for the possible organization of the Normandy summit as appropriate.".

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine Sergey Lavrov Russian Foreign Ministry United States France Germany Eastern Ukraine

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