Astana - The presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, have accepted a proposal for them to hold a meeting in Astana brokered by French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Kazakh president's office said on Dec. 30.
“Kazakhstan, for its part, stands ready to host such negotiations on January
15-16, 2015, or at any other time convenient for the parties,” the office said
in a statement.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev “discussed potential solutions to the
Ukrainian crisis during his visits to Kyiv and Moscow in December,” it said.
“After those meetings, Nursultan Nazarbayev also discussed this issue in the
course of telephone calls with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, French
President Francois Hollande, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel,” the statement
said.
On Monday, Poroshenko said the next “Normandy format” meeting on Ukraine
would be held in Astana on January 15.
The “Normandy format” phrase is used to describe contacts between the
presidents of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany.
“My diplomatic year will start on January 15 in Astana, where a ‘Normandy
format’ meeting will be held – it has been agreed already,” Poroshenko told a
news conference in Kyiv.
