Presidents Acknowledge Some Progress at Normandy Four Summit

Dec. 10, 2019 (EIRNS)—The Normandy Four summit of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France ended with a note of progress in the consensus among German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It is the first time the Normandy Four have met since 2016. Particularly significant was the first bilateral meeting between the recently- elected Zelensky and Putin.

According to a statement released by the Elysée Palace in Paris where the summit took place, the leaders agreed to renew and expand the mandate of observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) working in eastern Ukraine, increasing their current 12-hour mandate to 24 hours to monitor the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine with unlimited access to all areas. They also agreed to an updated de-mining plan and a full exchange of prisoners of war before the end of December, with the Red Cross being guaranteed free access to the detainees until their release. They also agreed to withdraw troops from three disengagement points by March 2020, in addition to the three locations where this already took place in 2019. They agreed that the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine will discuss the conditions that will allow the local elections to be held in eastern Ukrainian territory. They will hold another summit in four months to review progress, reported Anadolu Agency.

Commenting on his bilateral meeting with Putin, Zelensky said they discussed the renewal of Russian gas transit via Ukraine and holding local elections in eastern Ukrainian territory. He stressed that his views were diametrically opposed to the Russian President’s on the issue of border control. “For Ukraine, it is important to ensure control over all its borders. At the talks with President Putin, I stressed the necessity of the pullout of foreign militant groups and the disarmament of militants,” said Zelensky, and further declaring that he considered it that local elections could only be held based on Ukrainian legislation. He did not support the idea of passing a bill granting a special status to the separatist regions, because he thought it could limit Ukraine’s sovereignty and allow for external forces to put pressure on the country’s foreign policy.

Putin for his part insisted on committing the special status of the separatist regions to legislation, because it is suggested by the Minsk Agreement itself. He further said, “Can we speak about thaw? I think yes. We have now met in the Normandy format and discussed a very important wide range of issues, and we have made progress on many of them,” he said, observing that the work was “very useful. “

Putin also stressed the necessity of direct dialogue between the separatist regions and Kiev.

As for gas deliveries, he said Russia was ready to sell the fuel to Ukraine 25% cheaper than Ukraine currently pays for European supplies.

Host President Macron stressed the importance of the meeting between Putin and Zelensky, reported TASS, telling reporters: “In this regard, I want to note the political courage and decisiveness that the Ukrainian President has shown since his election by seeking to achieve peace in the conflict that harms his country.... I believe that the mere fact that this forum was held and that negotiations lasting several hours took place at it is an achievement in itself.”