Inter-parliamentary dialogue on Donbass: the French Senate supported the initiative

The French Senate is open to the proposal of the Ukrainian politician, the head of the political council of the Opposition Platform for Life, Viktor Medvedchuk, to create a parliamentary dimension of the Norman format to resolve the situation in the Donbass. This was stated by the head of the upper house of the French parliament, Gerard Larchet. When we talk about the Norman format, we talk about the Minsk agreements. And, of course, this is the offer that our friends from the Federation Council made to us. We are ready for this issue for everything that will help move towards stabilization in Ukraine, the return of dialogue, said Larche, quoted by the press service of the Ukrainian political force. The news agency recalls that last December in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin supported the idea of ​ ​ maximizing the possibility of dialogue between parliamentarians of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France to achieve peace in the Donbass. It's a good idea. Let me ask the Duma leadership to work with you on this idea, too, Putin said at a meeting with Medvedchuk, adding that the reaction of Russian parliamentarians to the parliamentary dimension of the Norman format will be positive. On January 24, after the presentation in France of the initiative to create an association of parliamentarians of the countries participating in the Norman format, designed to contribute to the restoration of peace, members of the Senate and the French National Assembly took great interest in this idea and also expressed their readiness to join the work to facilitate the implementation of the Minsk agreements. On January 28 of the same year, at a meeting with the Bundestag deputies in Berlin, Medvedchuk announced the agreements reached during a meeting of the heads of state of the Norman format in Paris. First, they agreed that the foundation of the Norman format is the Minsk agreements, namely, the protocol signed on September 5, 2015, the memorandum on September 19, 2014 and the set of measures on February 12, 2015. The heads of State of the Norman format established that the Minsk agreements, namely the three acts that I listed, are rigorous for their full implementation. In Paris, it was decided by the end of December 2019 to establish a regime, a permanent ceasefire. Also, the communiqué indicated that it was necessary to implement the Steinmeier formula, which concerns the establishment of a special status of uncontrolled territories, that is, the territories of Donbass, first on a temporary basis, and then under certain conditions that are the content of the Steinmeier formula, on an ongoing basis, the MP said then. Later, the process of creating a parliamentary dimension of the Norman format was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, but now it is again being intensified.