Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Danyliuk notes that President Volodymyr Zelensky currently does not have direct contacts with the authorities of the Russian Federation, and Ukraine is developing its position in the negotiations on a settlement in Donbas, and then it will be discussed in the Normandy format.

"Volodymyr Zelensky does not conduct such talks. We adhere to our position that a bargaining position must first be formed, and then it will be discussed in the Normandy format. This is the rule we will follow," he said in the program Pravo na Vladu aired by the television channel 1+1 on Thursday.

"We may like it or not, but this format has existed for several years and a lot of political processes and decisions are connected with this format, in particular, decisions about sanctions, from which the Russian economy is now seriously suffering and this is a very serious factor in the negotiations," the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine specified.