From Donbass to the Russian invasion, the discreet sinking of the “Normandy format”

It is a configuration of diplomatic meetings of which nothing remains but ashes. The “Normandy format” was so named because it saw the light of day in June 2014, in the wake of the D-Day commemorations to which were invited Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenkorecently elected, and the Russian president Vladimir Poutinerecalls on its site the magazine Fokous.

“The Normandy format at the highest level, which brought together the leaders of Ukraine,Germanyof France and Russia, served as an essential platform for discussion on the question of easing the armed conflict in the Donbass”, explains the television channel Freedom.

But in reality, believes the channel, “the four worked like three”. In other words, “Russia avoiding talks in which Ukraine directly participated”, the representatives of French and German diplomacy sometimes met their Russian counterparts, sometimes their Ukrainian counterparts. As for the meetings between the pre