The United States can take part in negotiations within the framework of the Normandy Four and the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass, since Washington is a member of the OSCE and guarantor of the Budapest Memorandum.

This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister of the Ukrainian government Alexei Reznikov.

“It continues publicly - at the level of Ukraine - that the US participation (in the negotiations on Donbass -

RT

) is absolutely possible and acceptable at different levels.

Starting with the fact that the United States is a member of the OSCE, including a donor to the OSCE, since, like other OSCE countries, they pay their contributions there.

Therefore, today the United States, as a party to the Budapest Memorandum, and this is their moral and legal right, can begin to work both in the Normandy format and at the level of ambassadors and coordinators of the Trilateral Contact Group, ”Interfax-Ukraine quoted Reznikov as saying.

The Deputy Prime Minister's statement was preceded by statements by other Ukrainian officials about the work of the Normandy format, made in the past few months.

So, in mid-January, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba said that "even more active involvement" of the United States would be "useful and effective."

“But in what format it can take place is a matter of diplomacy,” Kuleba said in an interview with the Obozrevatel.

Meeting without Ukraine

We will remind, in early March, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the preparation of a new meeting of the leaders of the Normandy Four.

Zelensky also announced his readiness to hold individual talks with the heads of Russia, France and Germany if the meeting in the Normandy format does not take place.

“In any case, a Normandy meeting is being prepared.

She must be.

I will say it myself, and I said this to our Western partners: there will be no meeting in the Normandy format, I will find a format when I meet with each of these leaders of the Normandy Four.

As they say, if the mountain does not go to Mohammed, then it's okay - it means that I will meet with everyone separately, ”Zelensky said on March 9.

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

  • Reuters

  • © Sergey Dolzhenko

However, the Kremlin emphasized that negotiations with Zelensky are not yet envisaged in Vladimir Putin's plans.

This was announced by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, adding that, if necessary, such a conversation can be promptly organized.

After that, on March 30, Vladimir Putin held talks in the format of a video conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The Kremlin noted that the leaders of the countries exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine and confirmed that there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements for resolving the internal conflict in the country.

"The President of Russia stressed the importance of the Kiev authorities fulfilling all the agreements previously reached at the highest level, primarily on establishing a direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk and settling the legal aspects of the special status of Donbass," the Kremlin said in a statement.

At the same time, the Russian side expressed concern over the “escalation of the armed confrontation on the line of contact provoked by Ukraine,” as well as the actual refusal to implement the additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire regime agreed by the TCG in July 2020.

In Kiev, commenting on the talks between Putin, Macron and Merkel, they said that no decisions regarding Ukraine can be made without her participation.

“We clearly adhere to the position that no decisions on Ukraine can be made without Ukraine.

Leaders of other countries can mention and express their positions on the situation in a particular region, or in a particular country, ”said Yulia Mendel, Zelensky's press secretary.

Recall that following the summit in the Normandy format at the level of heads of state, which took place in December 2019 in Paris, a communiqué was adopted, which listed the positions on resolving the conflict in Donbass, agreed by the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine.

In addition, the meeting participants agreed on the so-called Steinmeier formula, which envisages the entry into force of the law on the special status of Donbass after free elections there, the disengagement of forces, the establishment of a truce and a number of other provisions aimed at normalizing the situation in southeastern Ukraine.

Despite the fact that the Zelensky administration regularly appeals to the results of the 2019 summit in Paris, most of its provisions remain unfulfilled due to the fault of the Ukrainian side - in particular, the "Steinmeier formula" has not been included in the legislation and the ceasefire has not been preserved.

At the end of December 2020, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that the timing of the new summit of leaders in the Normandy format can be discussed only after the implementation of the agreements of the previous meeting.

American involvement

It is worth noting that the idea of ​​involving the United States in the Normandy format talks is not new.

She was promoted during her presidency by Petro Poroshenko, but then she did not receive any significant development.

In 2017, Kurt Volcker, who was then the US Special Representative for Ukraine, said that Washington did not intend to become part of this format and did not want to lead it.

The question of US participation in the negotiation process on Donbass was raised again after Volodymyr Zelenskyy became the president of Ukraine.

In May 2019, the head of the presidential party "Servant of the People" Dmitry Razumkov said that Kiev would seek to include the United States in the Normandy format of negotiations.

Soon after that, Zelensky himself proposed to hold a meeting on the settlement of the conflict in Donbass, in which not only the leaders of the Normandy Four countries - Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, but also the United Kingdom and the United States - would take part.

  • December 9, 2019. Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel during a meeting in the Normandy format at the Elysee Palace

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Nikolsky

Commenting on the initiative of the Ukrainian president, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov then noted that the format of the negotiations had been agreed upon, and its participants did not see the need to "diffuse attention."

“As for the initiative voiced, as I understand it, impromptu by President Zelensky to connect the United States and the United Kingdom to the Normandy format, representatives of the US administration itself have already expressed their opinion on this topic, who do not see the need for this.

As I understand it, France and Germany have a similar position, ”the head of Russian diplomacy noted at the time.

Political analyst Alexander Asafov believes that Kiev is trying to "push" the United States into the Normandy format, since he believes that Washington will help the Ukrainian side to defend its positions.

“The Ukrainian authorities traditionally try to violate the agreements concluded by including new actors under various pretexts.

But this initiative will not be accepted by other participants for the reason that Kiev has not fulfilled anything from what it promised under the Normandy and Minsk formats.

Ukraine is making attempts to withdraw from the current agreements or rewrite them, involving new actors in them, "the expert emphasized in an interview with RT.

In turn, Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies, IMEMO RAS, noted that the statement about the possibility of the US participation in the Normandy Four negotiations as a guarantor of the Budapest Memorandum is puzzling, since this document has nothing to do with what is happening.

“The Budapest Memorandum was originally created to eliminate nuclear weapons from Ukraine.

But the current Kiev officials are looking for all sorts of pretexts to involve the United States in the negotiation process on Donbass - in their opinion, weighty, but in fact, these are weak and unconvincing arguments, ”the political scientist said.

Considering that all mechanisms have been developed to resolve the situation, it is not clear why Washington's participation in this format is necessary, Olenchenko added.

“Either Ukrainian officials want to delay the process, or this is a manifestation of incompetence and inability to conduct practical policy,” the political scientist believes.

Volodymyr Olenchenko recalled that the Normandy format presupposes the implementation of the agreements already reached, which contribute to the resolution of the conflict, but Ukraine is trying in various ways to sabotage this process.

“The Kiev authorities expect that if the United States joins the Normandy format, the American mission will be able to insist on the adoption of agreements that will meet the interests of Ukraine, while the interests of the DPR and LPR will be ignored,” the expert explained.

Ukraine periodically tries to initiate a meeting of the Quartet, where it will only promote its own version of resolving the situation, Olenchenko added.

"Germany, France, Russia, in this case, should ask the question: what is the US going to come with, what new they want to offer, and also take this proposal as an expression of the Ukrainian side's distrust of the Quartet and its participants," the political scientist concluded.