On Wednesday 21 September, MEPs and their Ukrainian counterparts expressed their wish for a detailed roadmap to be agreed "as soon as possible" between Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany, outlining the different stages for implementing the Minsk agreements. This request had already been made by the Slovak minister for foreign affairs, Miroslav Lajčák, at the Gymnich, on 2 September (see EUROPE 11615).
In the joint conclusions adopted at the end of their two-day meeting in Kiev, the European delegation consisting of seven MEPs, headed by Andrej Plenković (EPP, Croatian), and the Ukrainian delegation of the EU-Ukraine parliamentary association committee stated that "the appointment of a high-level international personality trusted by all sides could be envisaged in order to help steer the negotiation process and the peaceful reintegration of the occupied territories". Nonetheless, according to one European source, the Ukrainians and Russians would like the 'Normandy format' to remain a format of four. MEPs also gave their support to the possible deployment of a UN mandated peacekeeping force in order to defuse tension, increase security, protect the civilian population, oversee the disarmament and facilitate the reintegration process.
In a separate press release, Plenković called for a "breakthrough" in the implementation of the Minsk agreements. He said that "despite the fragile ceasefire since 1 September, the security and humanitarian situation in the East of Ukraine remains very worrying. With regard to the elections in the temporarily occupied territories, it is clear that they cannot be organised according to international standards, due to the current security situation". He also emphasised that MEPs from the delegation do not recognise the elections organised in the Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Duma (see EUROPE 11628).
Underlining "the impressive progress accomplished in areas such as the fight against corruption, reform of public administration and the justice sector, as well as the decentralisation process", Plenković stated that it was "crucial" that the implementation of the reforms went ahead. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)