'Normandy format' meeting in Milan not yet agreed, being worked on - Ushakov
MOSCOW. Oct 15 (Interfax) - Russian president aide Yury Ushakov has confirmed that contacts of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the so-called 'Normandy' and larger formats involving representatives of the European Union and the Uruapan Commission are being prepared.
"Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will host a so-called morning breakfast before the start of the ASEM working session. Ukraine will be a priority topic. It will be attended by our president, [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, [French President Francois] Hollande, [Ukrainian President Petro] Poroshenko, [British Prime Minister David] Cameron, as well as apparently [European Council President Herman van] Rompuy and [European Commission President Jose Manuel] Barroso," Ushakov told a briefing on Wednesday.
"The idea of the participation of our president in the so-called 'Normandy format' is being worked on. This meeting is not agreed on in full but I can say that it is being worked on," he said.
All those contacts will take place on October 17, he said.
A bilateral meeting between Putin and Poroshenko is not planned but it is possible that the leaders of the two countries will agree on it at a meeting in a larger format, Ushakov said.
"That meeting is not on the president's schedule so far. They will have contacts at meetings in larger formats and it is possible that they will agree on it. However, there is no such an agreement," Ushakov said.
The 'Normandy format' brings together the Russian, German, French and Ukrainian leaders. The first meeting in this format took place at the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day in Normandy this June.