German FM Puts High Hopes on Normandy Four Talks on Ukraine in Paris

All sides of the Ukrainian conflict resolution must continue constructive cooperation ahead of the Normandy Quartet leaders' meeting scheduled for October 2, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Saturday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will meet in Paris on Friday to discuss the implementation of the Minsk peace agreements.

"I expect, with an eye to the Normandy meeting on Friday, that the constructive line that led to the agreement [on gas deliveries between Russia, Ukraine and the European Union] will prevail in overcoming the crisis in eastern Ukraine and the implementation of the Minsk agreements," Steinmeier said in a statement.

On Friday, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union initialled a protocol on Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine until March next year, which sets out conditions for Ukraine's purchase of 2 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia. The tentative document will be signed within a week.

Steinmeier said the agreement on gas deliveries was a "rational solution" that would prevent a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and ensure economic and social stabilization in the country.

The Normandy Four was created in 2014 to secure a peaceful settlement to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. In February, the group worked out a ceasefire deal in Minsk, Belarus, signed by Kiev and the Donbas militias.