The German government has confirmed that a meeting has been scheduled for August 24 between the leaders of France, Germany and Ukraine in Berlin, a German government source told TASS.
“On Monday, Berlin will host a meeting of [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel, [French and Ukrainian presidents] Francois Hollande and PetroPoroshenko,” the source said.
“We can’t speak of the Normandy format, as it will be held without [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,” he said, adding that the details will be made public later on Wednesday.
Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the possibility is currently being discussed to hold in the next few days in Berlin expert consultations in the Normandy format.
The ministry said the Russian side proceeds from the assumption that during the consultations “issues will be considered that are directly connected with the constitutional reform in Ukraine in the context of implementation of provisions of the Package of Measures on implementation of the Minsk Agreements of February 12, 2015.”
Massive shelling of residential neighborhoods, including with the use of aviation, has killed thousands and led to a humanitarian disaster in east Ukraine since Kiev in April 2014 announced the start of an “antiterrorism operation” there.
Ukraine has regularly violated the ceasefire regime imposed as part of the Package of Measures on implementation of the September 2014 Minsk Agreements.
The Package (Minsk-2) was signed on February 12, 2015 in the Belarusian capital Minsk by participants of the Contact Group on settlement in Donbas.
The situation in eastern Ukraine has deteriorated in recent weeks, with the number of reports on shelling and civilian deaths increasing. The Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics (DPR and LPR) have repeatedly said that the observance of the ceasefire that took effect February 15 depends solely on the Ukrainian side.
