Updated 2:43 p.m. Moscow Time
KIEV, October 4 (RIA Novosti) – The so-called Normandy format, comprising leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France may be expanded at the upcoming Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Milan, the Ukrainian president’s administration said Thursday.
"We do not rule out that the next meeting in the Normandy format may take place in Milan," Valeriy Chaly, Deputy Chief of Staff of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, said.
"I also do not rule out that a wider format of discussions may emerge in Milan," Chaly added.
Earlier on Thursday, Russian president’s aide Yuri Ushakov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko could meet on the sidelines of the ASEM summit to be held on October 16-17.
The summit will be chaired by the President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy in association with the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso. Heads of state and government from 49 European and Asian countries will meet at the ASEM forum to discuss their future priorities and plans.
The so-called “Normandy format” was established in early June as the presidents of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine held a series of meetings over the situation in Ukraine on the sidelines of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of allied troops' landing in Normandy, France.
The crisis started in April, when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters in southeastern Ukraine, who never recognized the legitimacy of the new government which came to power in the country after the February 22 regime change.
