16.01.2022, Moscow.
The talks about changing the “Normandy format” have in fact led to some results, which can already be summarized, Rossa Primavera News Agency editorial published on January 14 reads.
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a press conference in Berlin after a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte that negotiators from all four Normandy format countries “will meet soon” for preparatory talks.
“Talks about changing the Normandy format have in fact led to some results that can already be summarized. Russia negotiated directly with the USA, while France and Germany negotiated with the Ukrainian side.
Previously, the Russian side had to negotiate with Ukraine, which was dependent on the United States. At the same time, Ukrainian negotiators did not have any noticeable authority in Ukraine, which further problematized the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
Now we have a situation where Ukraine is negotiating with the EU, on which it is no less dependent than the United States. And EU representatives, in turn, are interested in the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
Russia, which is not a party to the conflict but has a strong interest in de-escalating the conflict in Donbass and preventing the US from delivering its missile systems to Ukraine, is negotiating directly with the USA.”
On January 10, the Donetsk People’s Republic said that the work of the Joint Centre for Ceasefire Control and Coordination in Donbass (JCCCC) would be blocked until Kiev free the representative of the Lugansk People’s Republic in the JCCCC Andrey Kosyak. The Russian Foreign Ministry called Andrey Kosyak’s kidnapping a “de facto terrorist action.”
On January 11, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky announced his readiness to negotiate with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass.
Earlier, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in an interview with Agence France-Presse that negotiations in the Normandy format would resume soon.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
