The format for settling the situation in eastern Ukraine with the participation of European countries – the Normandy Four – is unlikely to be expanded. The United States is present in informal consultations, Deputy Ukrainian Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze has said.

"I do not see how to change the official [Normandy] format in the near term. I wish the United States was there. I am glad that the United States is present in informal consultations," she told reporters in Kyiv on Saturday.

She said that the United States is present at the talks "not physically, but ideologically."

"We are permanently holding consultations with the United States in bilateral and multilateral formats, with participation of European countries," she added.