The Minister of foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin announced a meeting in “Norman format” level of foreign Ministers next week to discuss the deteriorating situation in Avdeevka and the release of the hostages.
“Most likely, next week will be held a Ministerial meeting in the “Normandy format”. I expect that the new Minister of foreign Affairs of Germany with us – with me and with the Minister of foreign Affairs of France, will exert pressure on Lavrov. We will discuss how the unfolding of the Russian adventure in the town and how it affected the performance of Minsk. I think it will be by far the main theme and the second theme will be the release of the hostages,” − said Klimkin.
The Minister also acknowledged that it did not expect substantial progress at the meeting.
“What do I expect from this meeting? Given the current position of Russia, not expecting much. Very expect pressure on Lavrov from us three regarding the security situation, I very much hope that the three of us could continue to put pressure on the release of the hostages and will raise the issue of our political prisoners. If we can achieve progress on the road map of Minsk? I have very big doubts” − said the Minister.
As reported, the Ukrainian foreign Ministry is considering different options for meeting in the “Norman format”, including on the sidelines of the G20 summit on 17 February.
