Normandy Four summit to take place in coming weeks, Macron hopes

 “I, President Zelensky and Chancellor Merkel discussed a possibility of holding a new summit in the Normandy format in the coming weeks,” Macron told journalists at the beginning of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

He explained that the discussion of a possibility to hold negotiations in the Normandy format currently took place under new circumstances related to the stance of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

 “President Zelensky made some short-term decisions. We will discuss them and exchange our views on these decisions. I hope that we will succeed in the coming days and weeks in order to get a new momentum in line with the Minsk agreements. This will allow us to move forward productively,” the French leader said.

As he emphasized, the Normandy Four summit may take place if effective decisions on joint actions are prepared.

According to the French president, the diplomatic advisers will start preparing the summit in a few days.

Macron also added that the opinions of France and Russia varied on Ukraine.

In turn, Putin once again began to talk about a compromise for achieving results within the Normandy format, for which Ukraine must provide special status to Donbas.

He also said that he would inform Macron about recent telephone conversations with the President of Ukraine.

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