Four-way peace talks on Ukraine resume with expanded format

Four-way peace talks on the Ukraine crisis resumed Wednesday in the Belarusian capital as heads of state and government of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine were joined by their respective entourages.

After a brief break for photo call, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko continued negotiations with the participation of senior diplomatic officials from their own countries, Tass news agency reported.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attended the expanded quartet meeting.

Footage of Russia's TV channel Rossiya 24 showed that journalists were waiting inside a room in the Palace of Independence for a news conference.

Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA) quoted Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei and reported that a coordinated document could be adopted following the talks in the formats of Normandy quartet and the Contact Group.

Along with the Normandy format meeting, the Contact Group talks took place in Minsk Tuesday and was prolonged into Wednesday.

The Contact Group meeting comprises representatives from Russia, the Ukrainian government, the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk (DPR and LPR), as well as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Representative of DPR Denis Pushilin said in the late-night interview with Rossiya 24 that some "positive shifts" have been made at the ongoing negotiations in Minsk, but "it is still too early to speak about any results."

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