Poroshenko, Putin to meet
KHARKIV, Ukraine. Oct 11 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday said he would have talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, next week.
"In six days I'll have a meeting in Milan with the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. And also with European leaders - the chancellor of Germany, the prime minister of Italy, the prime minister of Britain, European Union leaders," Poroshenko said at a meeting in Kharkiv with senior local officials.
"You will realize that I don't expect easy negotiations. That's nothing new to me, I have tremendous experience of extremely complicated diplomatic negotiations. But I'm an optimist," Poroshenko said.
On Thursday, an aide to Putin said there might be talks on Ukraine on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Milan next week.
"We are working on that. Contacts are being worked through, and the so-called 'Normandy format' can't be ruled out either," Yury Ushakov told a briefing.
The "Normandy format" refers to a meeting in Normandy, France, in June between Putin, Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. The meeting was held during celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy.
Putin would have a series of meetings with Western leaders during his visit to Italy, and "the Ukrainian theme will apparently be touched upon" during them, Ushakov said.
