Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will participate in the Normandy format discussions with his counterparts from Germany, France, and Ukraine to discuss the current situation on fulfilling the Minsk agreements.
“Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov will visit Berlin for a detailed discussion with his colleagues from the Normandy Four group on the fulfillment of the Minsk agreements. The fulfillment [of the agreement] is being blocked by Kiev, which is still incapable of holding dialogue with the DPR and LPR (self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics) and doesn’t want to take on actual measures on constitutional reform, doesn’t include Donetsk and Luhansk in the constitutional commission, and so on. There will be a serious discussion on all of these aspects,” Karasin said.
The Normandy Four group, comprising the presidents of Russia, Ukraine, France and the Chancellor of Germany, has held several rounds of talks on Ukrainian reconciliation.
In February in Minsk, the group worked out a ceasefire deal later signed by Kiev and pro-independence fighters of Donbas region. The truce included a set of measures to stop the military confrontation in Ukraine’s southeast.
Constitutional reform, stipulating decentralization of Ukraine and granting special status to Luhansk and Donetsk was one of the key points of the agreement.
In late march, Karasin said that Kiev's unwillingness to negotiate with breakaway regions' representatives negates attempts to resolve the crisis.
