Zelensky and Putin to meet in Paris
During the Normandy Four Summit in Paris, the personal meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky is planned, reports Kommersant, citing a source familiar with the details of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and preparations for the Summit.
The Kommersant's source estimated the probability of such a meeting close to 100%. According to him, it is easy to find an opportunity to talk personally at events like the Normandy Four Summit.
As the newspaper notes, the presidents of the two countries held bilateral meetings when Petro Poroshenko’s president was the president of Ukraine. During the Normandy Four Summit in 2016, Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin spoke for more than 40 minutes.
The Normandy Four Summit is scheduled for December 9 in Paris. The heads of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany will discuss the settlement of the conflict in the Donbas and the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
On November 19, Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, when asked about the possibility of a personal meeting between Putin and Zelensky in Paris, said that the schedule of the trip is still under development.
Zelensky promised to raise the issue of "return and de-occupation of the Donbas with more or less clear deadlines" at the Normandy Four Summit. He also plans to discuss the timing of the prisoner exchange. He noted that the situation in South-Eastern Ukraine can only be resolved through diplomatic means and said that Kyiv has been waiting for the Normandy Four meeting and has been seriously preparing for it.