No consensus in Normandy format on deployment of UN peacekeepers to Donbas - Zerkal

00:09, 14.06.2018 1 min read

There is no consensus in the Normandy format (France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia) on the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force to Donbas, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister for European Integration Olena Zerkal has said.

"To reach a compromise, you should first have a concept. You can talk about different stages, personnel and the rest if you have a concept of what you want to achieve, as well as an agreement between the parties to achieve this concept. There is no concept in the Normandy format regarding a peacekeeping mission. Of course, there is also no consensus," she said on Ukraine's Channel 5 on Wednesday.

According to Zerkal, Russia is trying to exert pressure on Ukraine at the negotiations with the problem of political prisoners.

"Now they [the Russians] in the Normandy format have clearly shifted their attention to a very sensitive topic for us - political prisoners and hostages. They understand that this is a painful and important topic for us, that society is very closely monitoring this," Zerkal said.