Non -Russian three

The leaders of the three countries of the "Norman Four" - Germany, France and Ukraine - in May will hold negotiations in German Aachen on the placement of the UN peacekeepers in the Donbass. According to Kommersant, citing a source close to the President of Ukraine, negotiations will be held without the participation of the Russian president.

It is reported that negotiations should be held on the margins of the Charlemagne International Prize ceremony, which is visited annually by the leaders of European countries. According to the interlocutor of the publication, the “preparatory work” for the summit will be carried out during the visit of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to Berlin on April 10 and negotiations with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This year, Karl the Great Prize in the nomination "For contribution to the association of Europe" should be handed to President of France Emmanuel Macron.

According to the source in the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Moscow will not take part in negotiations due to the “extremely unfavorable emotional background” in relations with the West caused by the poisoning of the ex-GRU employee Sergei Skripal, but the Kremlin is in the course of preparation for the summit. “Moreover, French President Emmanuel Macron, who is also going to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg in May, will surely discuss the theme of peacekeepers in the Donbass with Vladimir Putin,” Kommersant's interlocutor added.

Moscow does not object to negotiations in a similar format, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “But you need to understand that the issue of peacekeepers in the Donbass will not be resolved in Aachen, but in the UN Security Council. Without a decision of the Security Council, peacekeepers will not appear there,” he added.

Negotiations in the Norman format on peaceful settlement in Ukraine have not been carried out since May 2017.