Poroshenko warns Ukrainian delegation against bilateral meeting with Putin in Paris

03.12.2019 15:54

Ukrinform

The Ukrainian delegation should not hold bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Normandy Four summit in Paris as it will be deprived of the support of its European partners, European Solidarity party leader Petro Poroshenko has said.

He said this from the rostrum of the Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday, the party's press service reported.

In his opinion, the Kremlin, which is trying to get the lifting of sanctions, will promote the idea of Ukraine holding bilateral talks with Russian-backed forces, which is unacceptable.

"We must clearly adopt a road map for the implementation of the Minsk process, where the security component, including the withdrawal of troops, the withdrawal of Russian hardware and artillery, precedes the political component," Poroshenko said.

He also said that there should be no compromise on changing a unitary system of government in Ukraine. "No negotiations with militants because their 'mouse king' stays in the Kremlin. Negotiations must be held with him. Ukraine must be protected by the position of our allies. Negotiations must be held together," Poroshenko said.

A Normandy Format summit is to take place in Paris on December 9. The meeting will be attended by the leaders of four countries: Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany. It will be the first meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.

A key issue on the agenda is resolving the conflict in Donbas.

The last such meeting at the level of the leaders of the states took place in Berlin on October 19, 2016. Its participants acknowledged that there was been no breakthrough in the settlement of the conflict in Donbas.