MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia is not against taking part in talks with German, French and Ukrainian as part of the Normandy format to settle the Ukrainian crisis, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
Earlier in October, a number of officials from the concerned states, such as French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Russia's presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, said that the next meeting of the Normandy Quartet could be held on October 19. However, the meeting has not been confirmed yet.
"We said from the beginning that homework needs to be done. And a decision on the summit will be taken according to the results of this homework," Peskov told reporters.
He said expert-level meetings are underway to determine the date and location of the next discussions.
"The expert-level meetings are expected, where quite a serious discussion would take place. If the expert-level meetings end positively, then, of course, there will be a possibility [to hold the meeting between the Normandy Quartet leaders]," Peskov added.
The Normandy Four group was created in 2014 to secure a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. In February 2015, the quartet leaders worked out a ceasefire deal in Minsk, Belarus, signed by representatives of the Kiev authorities and the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
