Kiev says next Normandy meeting to be held this week
Xinhua, October 18, 2016 Adjust font size:
The leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia will meet this week to discuss the security situation in Ukraine, the Ukrainian government said in a statement.
The summit of the Normandy leaders -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- will be held in Berlin. The four will discuss the implementation of security provisions as laid out in the Minsk peace agreements, according to the statement on the official website of the President of Ukraine.
The Normandy format is a diplomatic group of leaders from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France set up to resolve the crisis in eastern Ukraine in accordance with agreements reached in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, in February 2015.
The security stage of the Minsk agreements calls for a cessation of hostilities and separation of forces along the frontline in eastern Ukraine.
The armed conflict between government troops and pro-independence insurgents in Ukraine's eastern regions has been raging since April 2014, claiming the lives of more than 9,600 people.
The previous meeting in the Normandy format was held on Oct. 2, 2015, in Paris. Endi