Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen believes that the Steinmeier formula can be implemented only when the sides of the conflict in Donbas get to the election process, which in her opinion will take a while.

"I want to emphasize that this formula can only be implemented when we get to the election process – when all the conditions are ready for it. I think the election is a long way off, and there are other steps to be taken first," the diplomat said in an exclusive interview to the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

The ambassador also expressed hope that negative reaction in society to the formula approved by the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk was "primarily due to the fact that people do not know in what context this formula was found."

"It was proposed about three years ago by Frank-Walter Steinmeier [the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany] when there was no progress in the negotiations. There are many broad provisions in the Minsk agreements, such as amnesty, local elections or the special status law, and the Steinmeier formula was an attempt to suggest smaller steps, that is, to determine what should happen first and what should happen next," the diplomat said.

Feldhusen added that the formula never intended to change the overall order of the peace process.