MOSCOW, September 19. /TASS/: The refusal of Ukrainian representatives in the Contact Group to sign the Steinmeier formula runs counter to the previous agreements and confirms once again that proper preparations must be made before a summit of the Normandy Quartet (Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany) may take place, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Thursday.
"Yesterday’s situation proved Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position correct once again. A meeting for a meeting’s sake can hardly be productive. Enormous preparatory work must be done before getting together," Peskov said, adding that preparations "encounter difficulties."
"We know that the Steinmeier formula was not linked to any preconditions. Accordingly, [Kiev’s] conditions [for signing a document] is a new factor for all countries that previously declared their agreement with that formula," Peskov stressed.
