Kremlin eyes four-way Ukraine summit this year

Reuters
Russia's presidential aide Ushakov speaks with journalists after a meeting of President Putin with U.S. National Security Adviser Bolton in Moscow

MOSCOW (Reuters) - An international summit on solving the Ukrainian crisis is likely to take place this year, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow on Monday.

A breakthrough at talks between Moscow and Kiev on Oct. 1 appeared to open the way for the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France to hold the first four-way summit on the conflict in three years.

"I think that the summit would take place... I think this year," Ushakov said.

He also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would discuss Ukraine, Syria and Libya on the phone later on Monday.

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany last met in the so-called Normandy format in October 2016. The group takes its name from a meeting of the countries' leaders in Normandy, in western France, in 2014.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Alex Richardson)