Ukrainian President wants meaningful results from meeting with Putin
(Baonghean.vn) - On December 9, leaders of the Normandy Four group including Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France will hold a summit in Paris to find solutions to the conflict in Donbass.
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| Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. Photo: TASS |
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is expected to hold a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin within the framework of the Normandy Four summit in Paris on December 9. This was confirmed by Mr. Zelensky in an interview broadcast on Ukrainian television on December 6.
Asked whether the Russian and Ukrainian presidents would hold bilateral talks, he said: “Yes, all presidents will hold bilateral meetings.”
Zelensky said he “wanted to return with meaningful results” from Paris and bring back to Ukraine “the understanding and awareness that all negotiators seek to finally put an end to this catastrophic war.”
“I want a result and the only thing I worry about is that we will meet and say ‘We are planning…’,” he said. Asked if he was nervous ahead of the meeting, he added: “The only thing I worry about is that I don’t like the lack of results in the negotiations, that’s the only thing I worry about.”
The Ukrainian president pointed out that he could see Russia's determination to hold dialogue, which could be demonstrated by the recent prisoner exchange and the return of Ukrainian warships seized by Russia in the Kerch Strait incident. That was a signal.
"I see that Russia is ready for dialogue"
Zelensky said he expected “meaningful results” from the Paris talks. He acknowledged that “it was not possible to achieve everything” at the Paris summit, but that the talks had taken place was “a victory.”
The first Normandy Four talks took place in France in June 2014, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy.
The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany met for the first time to find a solution to the conflict in the Donbass region in southeastern Ukraine.
Since then, the Normandy Four has held a series of phone calls and summits, along with meetings at the level of foreign ministers and other officials. The most recent Normandy Four summit took place in Berlin in October 2016.
