"The Normandy format meeting in Astana can be a catalyst for the Minsk talks. However, this is no substitute for those negotiations which take place between DPR and the Armed Forces of Ukraine… All the agreements reached at the meetings without the representatives of DPR and LPR [Luhansk People's Republic] could eventually lead to a standstill," Denis Pushilin was quoted as saying by the Donetsk news agency.
In December 2014, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine would meet in the Kazakh capital of Astana on January 15.
The Normandy format was established early June when Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Ukrainian leader met in Normandy to discuss the Ukrainian crisis.
Talks on Ukrainian reconciliation have been conducted in four formats, the so-called Normandy, Minsk, Geneva and Weimar. The Minsk format allows for the participation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics (DPR and LPR), and has proven to be the most effective.
