Minsk Deal Fulfillment More Important Than Normandy Format Change - Kremlin

It is important to fulfill the Minsk agreements and not to focus on restructuring the Normandy format, the Kremlin spokesperson said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – It is important that the Minsk agreements are fulfilled in settling the situation in Ukraine, but the reduction or expansion of the Normandy format is insignificant, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

“What’s important now is not the expansion or reduction of any type of formats, what’s important now is the fulfillment of the Minsk agreements, which are clearly stated,” Peskov told journalists in response to whether the Normandy format might be expanded.

The Normandy Quartet of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France has been trying to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine that began in April 2014 after Kiev authorities launched an offensive against independence supporters in Donbass.

The mid-February meeting of leaders of the Normandy format group resulted in a 13-point agreement aimed at cessation of hostiles in southeastern Ukraine.

On April 23, deputy head of Ukrainian president's administration, Valeriy Chaly, said Kiev would like Washington to join the Normandy format talks on the Ukrainian reconciliation.

A day earlier, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) negotiator Denis Pushilin told RIA Novosti that the republic was "categorically against" US President Barack Obama's participation in the Normandy format negotiations.