The political advisers held a meeting in the Normandy format. For almost nine hours of negotiations, due to disagreements and the categorical position of Kiev, the parties could not even agree on a joint statement.

No talks with Donbass

Regular negotiations of political advisers in the Normandy format in Berlin ended without tangible results and statements, said Dmitry Kozak, deputy head of the Russian presidential administration. According to him, the parties tried to agree on a final statement, starting from the previous meeting in Paris on January 26, but it all came down to disagreements that could not be overcome even in such a long time.

The fact that the parties were unable to agree on a joint document was confirmed by the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak. At the same time, he expressed the hope that soon the advisers would gather for a new meeting, during which they would consider the bills provided for by the Minsk agreements. According to the DPA agency, which cites sources in the German and French delegations, new negotiations are scheduled for March.

At the last meeting in this format in Paris on January 26, Kozak called Ukraine's refusal from direct dialogue with the self-proclaimed republics one of the key problems in resolving the conflict in Donbass.

This time, no breakthrough in this matter was also achieved. Moreover, the Ukrainian side in the final document refused to even cite the Minsk agreements in the part that the future status of Donbass "should be decided in consultations and discussions with representatives of certain regions (Donetsk and Luhansk regions -)".

In addition, according to Kozak, Kiev does not give either a positive or a negative answer to the proposals of Donbass on the future status of the region.

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There is no common position

Disagreements in the Normandy format have a devastating effect on the implementation of the Minsk agreements, without a common position in the Quartet, there will be no agreement in the Minsk negotiation process either, the representative of Russia said.

Speaking about the role of Berlin and Paris, Kozak noted that they are sympathetic to the Russian position on negotiations with Donbass, but their diplomatic efforts did not affect the position of Ukraine in any way, and he did not see their readiness to put pressure on Kiev.

The question of the possibility of convening a Normandy Four summit at the level of heads of state is not even discussed, because the representatives of Germany, France, Ukraine cannot decide who to consider as parties to the conflict and what obligations Russia should fulfill if Berlin, Paris and Kiev consider it a participant in the confrontation in the Donbass, Kozak explained.

The Russian side received the same vague response to a request to name “at least one obligation under the Minsk agreements that Donbass does not fulfill.”

“The answer is the same – we don’t know. Because for the last two or three years Donbass has been beating like a fish on ice, bringing in various ideas, proposals, road maps. There is no reaction to them,” Kozak said.

Stalemate

According to Kozak, security issues related to the concentration of Ukrainian troops and weapons on the contact line in Donbass were not discussed in Berlin. He drew attention to the fact that at the moment a significant number of Ukrainian troops and weapons are concentrated on the demarcation line in Donbass, but it is still difficult to say how ready Ukraine is to resolve the issue by military rather than political means. The representative of Russia at the talks recalled that Kiev regularly resorts to militaristic rhetoric and talks about some plans "A" and "B".

In the settlement of the situation in the East of Ukraine, in his opinion, a stalemate has developed.

Kozak expressed hope that the participants in the process would come up with concrete ideas on how to end the conflict.

“Let's hope that there is enough prudence not to start hostilities against our own citizens,” he said.

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Inefficient platform

Political scientist Andrey Suzdaltsev believes that the negotiations on Donbass, in principle, cannot get off the ground until the main issue is resolved - Ukraine's categorical unwillingness to comply with the Minsk agreements.

In a conversation with him, he also drew attention to the passive position of the guarantors from the West - France and Germany.

“That is, nothing can be expected here yet, because they are all in anticipation of a war. Everyone expects Russia to be the first to speak,” the expert said.

He noted that although they periodically turn to the Normandy format, this platform is ineffective, since Kiev has not yet fulfilled the agreements agreed upon at the 2019 summit in Paris.

bbabo.Net