BRUSSELS, February 9. /TASS/. The results of the "Normandy quartet" (Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany) summit on the Ukrainian crisis settlement in Minsk are not guaranteed, but the European Union will exert every effort for its success," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said after an EU ministerial meeting on Monday.
"A number of questions are yet to be worked out: to what distance in kilometers the heavy weapons should be withdrawn, how to ensure border control and what legal status Donetsk and Luhansk will have. Much is yet to be done, no results have been achieved, but we will do everything possible for a peaceful settlement by diplomatic methods, the minister said.
Fabius confirmed that expert consultations for the preparation of the Minsk meeting would be held on Monday afternoon and Tuesday.
Combat actions between the Ukrainian military and militias of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics during Kiev’s military operation in the country’s east conducted since mid-April 2014 have claimed over 5,300 lives and displaced nearly a million people to flee their homes seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, according to the UN data.
Last Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande arrived in Kiev for talks with President Poroshenko in order to settle the crisis. On Friday, the European leaders arrived in Moscow.
It took Putin, Hollande and Merkel about five hours to try to find a way out of the Ukrainian crisis.