MOSCOW, January 12 (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will confirm his attendance at the four-way summit talks on Ukraine as soon as the plans for this much-anticipated meeting get beyond the preparatory stage, the president's spokesperson said, as cited by the Russian daily Vedomosti.
"In case preparations for the January 15 meeting become more action-oriented, we will issue a corresponding statement on President Putin's attendance; as for now the meeting is being fleshed out at the expert level, and our further action will depend on the outcome," Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the newspaper.
The summit talks in the so-called Normandy format – Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine – are scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan's capital Astana. The Normandy format is a reference to the initial Ukraine talks that the four leaders held in June 2014 in Normandy, France.
Russia, German, French and and Ukrainian foreign minister will now meet in Berlin on Monday to discuss the implementation of the Minsk peace plan, agreed on in Belarus in September. The top diplomats are also expected to confirm the Astana summit.
