Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France are preparing to meet on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference next week to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Reuters cited the head of the annual conference as saying on Thursday. Top officials from the four countries will participate in the high-level meeting, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, according to MSC conference head Wolfgang Ischinger. The states have been meeting regularly in the ‘Normandy Format’ since 2014 to try to resolve the conflict.

The Foreign Ministry told about the meeting of ministers in the "Norman format"

The meeting of foreign ministers of the "Norman Quartet" may take place "on the sidelines" of the Munich Security Conference at the end of next week. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing for journalists about the planning of the ministerial talks on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Answering the question about the possibility of holding the meeting in the "Norman format", she said that it was "in the process of elaboration", promising to continue "informing about the stay of the Russian delegation in Munich."

The Munich Conference on Security, already the 54th on the bill, is scheduled for 16-18 February. Russia will be represented at the forum by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. More than two dozen heads of state and heads of international organizations, including UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, British Prime Minister Theresa May, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will take part in the event. From the US, the forum will be attended by Defense Minister James Mattis and National Security Adviser Herbert McMaster, a group of senators led by John McCain.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov is ready to take part in the negotiations of the "Norman format" at the ministerial level within the framework of the Munich Conference on Security. This was reported by his deputy Grigory Karasin.

Earlier portal iz.ru wrote that the Russian Foreign Ministry is working on the possibility of meeting foreign ministers of the countries that make up the "Norman Quartet". Negotiations can be held in Munich on 16 February.

"Sergei Lavrov is ready for such a meeting, if it takes place," the Russian deputy foreign minister answered the journalists' question.

The meeting was initiated by German Foreign Minister Zigmar Gabriel. Negotiations in the "Norman format" (Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany) are aimed at resolving the intra-Ukrainian crisis.