Heads of the MFA of Germany and Russia support the involvement of the USA in negotiations on Ukraine

The heads of the MFA of Germany and Russia Sigmar Gabriel and Sergey Lavrov came out for the involvement of the USA in negotiations on the conflict settlement in the east of Ukraine. They stated this in Moscow on the basis of bilateral negotiations, - UNIAN reports.

In particular, Gabriel stated that the FRG and Russia are looking for contact with the new US administration, but now "it is difficult to find interlocutors there until everything is not settled down".

"As for eastern Ukraine, we are interested in the fact that Normandy format would be the format that not only accompanies, but also monitors the implementation of Minsk. We are interested in the fact that the USA would not only be informed, but also use its opportunities to influence everyone whom they can influence", - Gabriel said.

"We would like to support our American colleagues to use their role and influence", - he added.

In his turn, Lavrov added that the system in the USA is wired this way that many officials are appointed only after the procedure of hearings in the Senate, and this takes time, and the US Department of State, in particular, has not filled all the vacancies yet. "This does not allow us to work actively with American partners… This also applies to Ukraine", - he said.

Lavrov stated that while building relationships with Washington, a channel of bilateral consultations was established alongside with the Normandy format in recent years after the adoption of Minsk-2. "These consultations were in the same vein as the approaches developed within the framework of the Normandy format in order to implement the Minsk agreements. I am convinced that one or another involvement of the USA in further efforts to unconditionally implement the Minsk agreements would be very useful", - Lavrov stated.

He also stressed that there is practically no conflict where it would be possible to do without the USA.