"Normandy format": Kiev wants war, Paris and Berlin are confused

19.10.2016

The meeting of"Normandy format" is scheduled for October 19th in Berlin. The member countries of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine will discuss the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

Without illusions

Moscow still considers the execution of the Minsk agreements as ultimate condition to achieve stability in the Donbass. But it doesn't have any illusions about Kiev's desire to observe them: the situation on the front line is constantly heating up. For the last 24 hours Ukrainian army violated ceasefire 253 times. They even used mortars for shelling.

 

Berlin collusion

It is remarkable that the leaders of Germany, France and Ukraine are planning to hold a separate meeting in Berlin before the "Norman format" in order to coordinate their positions and "engage Russia in meaningful dialogue." It is also important to note that  Kiev's position clearly shows that Ukraine does not intend to comply with the terms of the Minsk agreements, according to which there must be elections in the People's Republic, and only after then Ukraine will have control over the border. This statement was published on the website of Peter Poroshenko: "They want elections, but these elections will be played by the Crimean scenario  and with the same results when we have the presence of Russian troops in Donbass. We can't agree with it, so everything now depends on Russia..." It is important to note that many of the OSCE observers stated that there are no Russian military in the Donbass.

Clear position

Some experts argues that Berlin and Paris are intended to use this meeting in order to discuss issues related to the Syrian crisis. However, a spokesman for the Russian president dismissed this possibility.

"The President is open for discussion of Syria, as he told it in India, but tomorrow's meeting has a "Normandy format" purpose — said Dmitry Peskov.