Normandy Summit Preparations To Be Continued By Foreign Ministries, Leaders Aides -Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed on Saturday over the phone the situation in Ukraine, having agreed that the preparations for the next meeting of the Normandy Four format would be continued by the foreign ministers and the leaders' aides, the Kremlin press service said in a statement

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed on Saturday over the phone the situation in Ukraine, having agreed that the preparations for the next meeting of the Normandy Four format would be continued by the foreign ministers and the leaders' aides, the Kremlin press service said in a statement.

Putin and Merkel also pointed out that the summit must be thoroughly prepared so that it could bring specific results.

"During the discussion of the situation in Ukraine, [the leaders] confirmed the importance to scrupulously implement the Minsk agreements and the deals, reached during the top-level Normandy-format meetings.

That is primarily about the introduction of the 'Steinmeier formula' into the Ukrainian legislation as well as the withdrawal of arms and troops from the agreed parts of the contact line near the settlements of Petrivske and Zolote," the statement stressed.

The Kremlin added that the withdrawal of troops from the contact line was derailed by Kiev under various pretexts.