The Ukrainian side will not conduct direct negotiations with the separatists. Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak, who will represent the Ukrainian side at the talks in Paris, said this in a commentary to RBC-Ukraine, reacting to information about the alleged presence of such an issue on the agenda of the talks of "Normandy advisers" in Paris.
"The position of Ukraine, which has been expressed at different levels many times, is unchanged, it meets Ukrainian interests. There have been no and will be no any direct negotiations with the separatists. And such tales appear thanks to manipulators who have already tried to make betrayal out of the blue many times… Let those who are involved in the creation of these fakes today go and draw red lines on their foreheads, but in our country, they, like Ukrainian interests, are sewn into the subcortex", - he stated.
According to Yermak, there is currently no specific agenda for the meeting of the Normandy advisers. According to him, the Ukrainian side is going to discuss the resumption of ceasefire, humanitarian issues and opening of checkpoints, as well as future work in the Normandy format.
"Unlike some politicians, we do not conduct business or negotiations with the separatists, and we will never conduct them", - the head of the Presidential Office added.
He noted that only the leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia have the right to approve any documents in the Normandy format. Meetings of advisers and ministers in this format are solely consultative in nature. "Any insinuations or manipulations are insinuations and manipulations of people interested in disrupting the negotiations", - the head of the President's Office stressed.
Yermak added that in recent days, very contradictory statements have been made by German politicians, which have already been given an appropriate assessment by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Earlier, Deutsche Welle, citing sources from the dpa German agency, reported that they allegedly want to agree on a date for direct negotiations between the Ukrainian authorities and militants in the Donbas about a "special status" at the talks of the Normandy Four advisers in Paris. The dpa allegedly received such information from sources in the Elysee Palace.
Earlier, Yermak stated that the meeting of political advisers of the Normandy Four, which will be held on January 26 in Paris, would be a powerful signal that this format has finally been unlocked.