MOSCOW: Political advisers from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany will hold “Normandy format” talks on eastern Ukraine in Paris on January 25, a source in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration said on Saturday.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukraine’s chief negotiator Andriy Yermak, confirmed that a meeting in Paris was planned but told Reuters a preliminary date had been set for January 26.
The planned talks come amid elevated tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine.
Western countries are concerned by a Russia military build-up on the border and have warned of severe economic consequences if it invades its neighbour. Russia denies it plans to invade Ukraine but is demanding legally binding security guarantees from the United States and Nato.
The four-way Normandy format peace talks are aimed at helping end a long-running conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists.
Relations between Russia and Ukraine collapsed in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and Moscow-backed forces seized territory in the Donbass region that Kyiv wants back. Russia’s chief negotiator, Dmitry Kozak will take part in the talks from the Russian side, the source added. Kozak said earlier in January that the meeting would be held by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has accepted an invitation to meet his British counterpart Ben Wallace to discuss the crisis on the Russia-Ukraine border, a senior UK defence source said Saturday.
“The Defence Secretary is glad that Russia has accepted the invitation to talk with his counterpart,” the source said.
“Given the last defence bilateral between our two countries took place in London in 2013, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has offered to meet in Moscow instead,” added the source.
“The Secretary of State has been clear that he will explore all avenues to achieve stability and a resolution to the Ukraine crisis.”
Tens of thousands of Russian troops are massed on Ukraine’s border, along with an arsenal of tanks, fighting vehicles, artillery and missiles. Russia has denied it plans to invade but the White House believes an attack could now come “at any point”.
Britain’s Foreign Office on Saturday updated its travel advice to Ukraine in light of the crisis.
The department now advises against all travel to two pro-Moscow separatist territories Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. – Reuters
