MOSCOW, November 20 (Sputnik) – Moscow is ready to engage in negotiations on Ukraine in any format as long as they are useful, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov said Thursday.
“We do not rule out any format that helps,” he said when asked whether Russia would insist on holding reconciliation talks only in the Minsk format involving Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The absolute majority of diplomats negotiating reconciliation in Ukraine view the Minsk format as optimal, Titov said.
Talks on Ukrainian reconciliation have been conducted in four formats so far – the Minsk format, the Geneva format, the Weimar format and the Normandy format.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk earlier said the Geneva format, involving Russia, the United States, the European Union and Ukraine, is most useful. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, called it “a closed chapter” that was useful only when there was no direct contact between Kiev and independence supporters.
