Lavrov: Russia would be open to holding 'Normandy Format' talks on sidelines of G20
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Ukraine offered to hold a regular summit of the “Normandy Four” on the sidelines of the G20 summit, which will be held in Hangzhou, China, in early September.
According to Lavrov, the “Normandy Four” should be responsible for implementing decisions agreed on within the framework of the Normandy format.
“If our German and French partners, as well as the Chinese hosts, agree with Kiev’s proposal to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, we will certainly be ready for that; we consider it to be timely,” Lavrov noted.
He stressed that Russia is concerned by the developments in the Donbas, in particular the attacks and assassination attempt on the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, Igor Plotnitsky.
Lavrov added that all these events are taking place on the backdrop of “military rhetoric coming from Kiev.”
The Russian Foreign Minister believes that “Kiev’s threat to resort to all measures for resolving problems” are completely against the Minsk Agreements.
Earlier it was reported that representatives from certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are avoiding discussions about the release of prisoners and are not providing information about the whereabouts of many Ukrainian citizens.