KIEV, January 30 (Sputnik) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have backed holding a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group in the near future and a continuation of the Ukrainian reconciliation talks in the Normandy format, Poroshenko's press service said Friday.
"Petro Poroshenko and Angela Merkel have spoken in favor of holding the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group at the first opportunity, to declare an immediate bilateral ceasefire, withdraw heavy armament and troops and carry out the pullback to the delimitation line, " the statement read. "Should the progress be achieved, the parties will stand for a continuation of dialogue in the Normandy format."
Talks on Ukrainian reconciliation have been conducted in four formats – Normandy (the leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine), Geneva (Ukraine, Russia, the United States, the European Union), Weimar (Ukraine, Germany, France, Poland) and Minsk (Russia, Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) formats.
The latest round of Minsk talks was due to be held on Friday. However, Kiev authorities stated that there was "no sense in holding a meeting," as the DPR and LPR sent their representatives instead of leaders, which violates the format of the group. Luhansk's representative later accused Kiev of avoiding negotiations.
