Negotiations on Ukraine go twelve hours in a row

In Minsk, 12 hours already goes Normandy Four summit, in which the leaders of Ukraine, Germany and France are discussing with the Russian President Vladimir Putin the options for resolving the conflict in the Donbas.

The talks began with narrow contacts, which were attended only by heads of state.

Two hours later, Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, Petro Poroshenko and Francois Hollande went to the press to take pictures, and then negotiations continued in an expanded format.

Two hours later, the heads of state returned to a private conversation.

“The negotiations are difficult, but there is hope for success,” said Yevgeny Perebiynis, a representative of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, during a break in the summit.

In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov only used the word “super” in response to a question from Russian journalists about the progress of the dialogue.

There are no reliable details about the meeting.

Before the meeting, representatives of all the leaders participating in the Minsk summit made it clear that it was impossible to predict the outcome of the negotiations.

Ukrainian authorities and Western countries accuse Russia of supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine and of direct involvement in the armed conflict that engulfs areas in two regions in eastern Ukraine, Moscow denies the allegations.

Immediately upon his arrival at the Minsk Palace of Independence, Poroshenko met with Hollande and Merkel.

In addition, the Ukrainian president spoke with the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. At this meeting, Poroshenko warned that “either the situation will go through de-escalation, ceasefire, withdrawal of weapons, or the situation will actually go to pieces.”

Before the start of the four-party talks, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko shook hands.

EVENT PLACES

Correspondent of the Russian Service Bi-bi-si Tatiana Melnichuk from Minsk

The leaders of the Normandy Four, together with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, lingered for just a minute at the flags of Ukraine, Germany, France, Russia and Belarus displayed in the foyer.

This protocol survey, which reporters waited for more than an hour and a half, preceded the passage of leaders and members of delegations to the prepared negotiating hall. The faces under the camera highlights were more gloomy than joyful.

In the little hour that Merkel, Hollande, Putin and Poroshenko arrived at the Palace of Independence and spent in the guest room, the leaders of the Normandy Four countries apparently exchanged views and decided whether to begin negotiations.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko left the room where the leaders had gathered - and the reporters immediately decided that the heads of France and Germany needed to talk one-on-one with the Russian president. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko left the guest room even earlier, only after meeting the guests at the door and leading them to prepare for negotiations.

The previously announced bilateral meeting between Lukashenko and Poroshenko was warm, but brief - the parties did not have time for a long conversation.

"Only a ray of hope"

Before the meeting, representatives of all the leaders participating in the Minsk summit made it clear that it was impossible to predict the outcome of the negotiations.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said the summit "only provides a ray of hope, nothing more" and that its outcome was still completely uncertain. “But despite all the uncertainty, it is worth making an attempt to alleviate the suffering of people in eastern Ukraine,” he emphasized.

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, at the preparatory meetings before the summit, significant progress was achieved. However, Lavrov expressed doubts about the fulfillment of one of the requirements of Kiev - the restoration of control over the Russian-Ukrainian border.

“In those areas controlled by the militia, it is necessary to negotiate with the [self-proclaimed] DPR and LPR,” Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow, adding that the separatists are unlikely to agree to this.

President Poroshenko, in turn, declared that the proposal to federalize Ukraine was unacceptable, which was repeatedly mentioned by the Russian authorities, including President Putin.

“Ukraine was, is and will be a unitary state. This fully corresponds to the attitude of the Ukrainian people,” Poroshenko announced at a meeting of the Ukrainian government. “They are annoyingly trying to export ideas of federalization to us from a neighboring state […] Federalization is seeds that will not take root on Ukrainian soil.”

“If we have to, we’ll hit you in the teeth”

Before departure to Minsk President Injured declaredthat allows two opposite scenarios for the development of events in the east of Ukraine - both the establishment of peace and the escalation of hostilities.

In the latter case, the Ukrainian authorities can impose martial law in the country, he warned.

“We are for peace. If we need to be kicked in the teeth, we will be punched in the teeth, we need to defend our land – we will do this to the last,” Poroshenko said at a government meeting in Kyiv.

Ukrainian authorities and Western countries accuse Russia of supporting separatists in the east of Ukraine and of direct participation in the conflict in the Donbas, Moscow denies these accusations, writes BBC News.