MOSCOW. Sept 13 (Interfax) - The Kremlin supports the proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron to hold a Normandy Four summit in Paris but its date will depend on whether preliminary agreements are reached at the level of advisors, foreign ministers, and the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG).
"Currently, everyone understands that it's probably worth holding a Normandy-format summit in order to discuss with the new Ukrainian leader further steps to intensify the crisis settlement process in eastern Ukraine," Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov told journalists on Friday.
"We are prepared to go to Paris, we accept Mr. Macron's proposal with gratitude, but it requires solving several issues [...] An important condition of ours is pre-agreeing on outcomes of the summit, the results that would be presented to the public and in future serve as guidance for the subsequent settlement of this crisis," Ushakov said.
"We hope these efforts will soon be joined by the ministers of foreign affairs. Advisors are already working very actively. Just yesterday there was another telephone conversation, and before that a meeting in early September. Active preparations are under way, and when their results, which could be approved by the leaders, become visible, then specific [summit] dates will be set," he said.
The TCG is meeting on September 18, and "we are expecting it to make some first, reassuring steps that would enable us to start working on a specific summit date," Ushakov said.
"There is no chance of holding the Normandy summit next week," he said.
"If this work goes ahead, October cannot be ruled out," Ushakov said.