Normandy Format foreign ministers to meet this month

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reached agreement with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a Nov. 21 phone conversation to hold a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Normandy Format countries at the end of this month, the president’s press-service said. They also spoke about the Nov. 18 meeting between EU heads of state and U.S. President Obama, at which they agreed to extend sanctions against Russia until fulfillment of the Minsk Accords.

Zenon Zawada: The new road map to fulfill the Minsk Accords will be discussed at this foreign ministers meeting. Despite genuine efforts by Ukrainian diplomats, we expect the road map won’t be implemented because of numerous points of contention. For example, we expect Russia to demand a large Russian-oriented contingent as part of an OSCE police mission, which the Ukrainian side won’t agree to.