Russia Frustrated After 9 Hours of Failed Negotiations on Ukraine

MINSK – A senior official Russia publicly expressed his frustration after the second round of negotiations between political advisers from the four Normandy countries (Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany) ended without significant progress.

Speaking at a press conference at midnight Thursday or early Friday (11/2/2022), Deputy Kremlin Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak acknowledged that it was impossible for Russia and Ukraine to reconcile their conflicting positions on Minsk II, an agreement signed last year. 2015 in an effort to reduce tensions in the Donbass Region of eastern Ukraine.

The Normandy format was established in 2014 when France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine met on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the landing of the D-Day allies.

The group came together to find a solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which began in 2014 after the Maidan incident, when violent street protests toppled Ukraine’s democratically elected government.

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A year later, the group helped create Minsk II, an agreement meant to pave the way for Kiev to resolve its crisis.

The four countries met for the first time this year last month, when political advisers gathered in Paris for a round of discussions, with the idea of ​​reaching a consensus on the future of the agreement agreed in Minsk seven years ago.

Although the previous meeting was described as progressing talks, Thursday evening’s meeting was fruitless.

“We didn’t manage to overcome [ketidaksepakatan kami],” said Kozak, in a briefing he gave with Ukraine’s representative, Andrey Yermak, after the talks.

“Unfortunately, nearly nine hours of negotiations ended with no visible and tangible results,” he said Russia TodaySaturday (12/2/2022).

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