The likelihood of holding a Normandy Four summit this year is close to zero due to the irreconcilable position of Kyiv and Paris and Berlin, which have sided with it.
A PolitNavigator correspondent reports this, Kommersant writes, citing interlocutors involved in Ukrainian affairs in various Russian government agencies.
“It’s clear why Merkel has this meeting: she participated in the preparation of the Minsk agreements and before leaving her leadership post, she wants to put an end to it. Why Kyiv needs a summit is also clear: this is an opportunity to raise the issue of Crimea during negotiations and get PR. For us, it’s a waste of time if there is no result,” said one of the newspaper’s interlocutors.
The second was even more laconic, emphasizing that with the current position of Ukraine, Germany and France, refusing to register Kyiv and Donbass as parties to the conflict, as written in the Minsk agreements, the summit will not take place.
According to another source, everyone is just “pretending that they are preparing for the summit.”