"I do not think that there are currently plans for the United States to join the Normandy Format. But this does not mean that the US is not active at a diplomatic level. We are cooperating with Ukraine, we are holding consultations with France and Germany. Periodically we also hold meetings with the Russian side, to see whether there is a way for this process to progress constructively. This is how we support the Normandy Format," Yovanovitch said, speaking on Radio Svoboda.
In April 2014, Kiev authorities launched a military operation against pro-independence militia in Donbass. In February 2015, the two sides reached a ceasefire deal after talks brokered by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine — the so-called Normandy Format — in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, an all-for-all prisoner exchange and constitutional reforms, which would give a special status to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. Accusation of violating the agreement continue from both sides.
