Kuleba says Lavrov shuns Normandy ministers' meeting

REUTERS

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is trying to shun a meeting at the level of foreign ministers of the Normandy Four countries – Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced this in an interview for Radio NV shared on SoundCloud, an UNIAN correspondent reported.

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According to him, he has no contact with Lavrov.

"No, nothing has changed. We continue to try with my French and German colleagues to assemble a Normandy format at the ministerial level, but Sergei Lavrov is a sufficiently professional diplomat to avoid this meeting in a very elegant and beautiful way," Kuleba said.

Previous developments

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that France and Germany have somewhat weakened their positions in relation to Russia. "We know that we will go ahead with the Normandy format. I had a video meeting with President [of France Emmanuel] Macron, which was joined by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. I feel their support. I believe that their support should be greater. They know my opinion, I am very upfront with them. I believe that they have recently weakened their positions in relation to Russia a little," Zelensky said.
• Head of the President's Office Andriy Andrei Yermak, in turn, invites counterparts from Germany, France and Russia to hold a meeting of advisers to the Normandy leaders. Yermak also wants to revisit strict adherence to a complete ceasefire and the possibility of holding a meeting of the Normandy leaders.