HANGZHOU. Sept 5 (Interfax) - Russia supports the Normandy format of the Ukrainian settlement, but these meetings should have a specific result, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"As of the Normandy format, no matter is it good or bad, but there is no other option at least to make an attempt of settlement. And this is why Russia will certainly support this format," Putin said at a press conference following the G20 summit on Monday.
"I told both the federal chancellor and the French president that the issue is not to meet or not. The issue is that these meetings would result in any positive movement forward on the settlement path. I consider it pointless to note simply the fact of the meetings itself. I got the impression that no one even wants to meet simply for the sake of meetings. But maybe, except for Poroshenko himself. [...] I do not know. [...] It has been a long time since I talked to him," Putin said.
Replying to a question on the planned trilateral meeting [Russia, France, Germany] as part of the Normandy format in Hangzhou, Putin said "a trilateral meeting on their initiative was intended, and then we had bilateral meetings still on their initiative."
"It occurred due to that Ms. Federal Chancellor Merkel had to deal with the domestic policy issues at that time, as you know it, the elections had been held in one of the states, and she was busy at that moment. First we stated [the negotiations] with the French president, and when we finished, the Ms. federal chancellor arrived. We mostly discussed the Ukrainian crisis," he said.