Russia has been trying to push Normandy format out of negotiation process, Ukraine official says

Russia has been working to completely discredit and knock the Normandy format out of the negotiation process over the past year, so the current return to its active phase sends a good signal.

The opinion was expressed by Acting First Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas settlement, Andriy Kostin, who spoke in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

"In my opinion, Russia’s main idea over the past year was to completely discredit and knock the Normandy format out of the negotiation process," Kostin said.

In this context, he recalled the case where Russia leaked diplomatic correspondence with France and Germany. The acting first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG noted that there was nothing classified in that document, but the very fact of such correspondence being leaked is absolutely unacceptable in any negotiation process.

Their idea was to discredit the Normandy format, to sow distrust, and to move everything to the TCG. At the same time, Russia pursued its rhetoric claiming they are a “party to the conflict,” Kostin said.

According to the Ukrainian negotiator, the current return to the active phase of the Normandy format sends is a good signal, because at the N4 level it would be impossible to rewrite the Minsk agreements the way Russia is trying to through the "guests" they invited to the TCG.

"This is simply impossible. In this sense, it seems to me that the revival of the Normandy format is very important to us. It is, so to speak, superior to the TCG, and the history of the negotiation process shows that all disputes that could not be resolved at the TCG level could be settled within the Normandy format. This hierarchy must be adhered to, and we are doing everything possible to make it happen," the acting first deputy chairman of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG said.

According to Kostin, the latest talks of N4 advisers in Paris have shown that Russia realizes it can’t quit the Normandy Four and simply ignore it. Therefore Moscow should recognize that the role of the Normandy format is higher than that of the TCG.

As reported earlier, a meeting of political advisers to the Normandy Four leaders was held in Paris on January 26. The parties agreed to hold their next meeting in two weeks.

According to Ukrinform, such a meeting has been scheduled for February 10.

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