The presidents of Ukraine and Russia had their first face-to-face meeting in the French capital of Paris on Dec. 9.
Joined by the German and French leaders for the so-called Normandy Format meeting, Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin tried to negotiate peace in eastern Ukraine, where large swathes of territories are still under the control of Russia-backed militants and Kremlin’s proxy authorities.
While Zelensky and Putin held their first bilateral meeting in Paris, some 1,500 people nervously waited outside of the presidential administration in Kyiv, wary that the Ukrainian president would quickly concede to the more experienced Russian leader.
Many spent the previous night there in tents, following a massive rally on Kyiv’s Independence Square on Dec. 8 where nationalist parties and thousands of protesters set their “red lines” that Zelensky could not cross.
The summit brought no surprises. The end of Russia’s war in the Donbas, which killed over 13,000 people in nearly six years, remains a distant prospect. So does the return of all occupied territories from the Kremlin to Ukrainian governance.
The four leaders brokered a complete cease-fire and an all-for-all prisoner exchange by the year’s end. They also agreed to outline the plan to demine the front line area and to pull back troops and weaponry from three additional locations.
Furthermore, they agreed to incorporate the Steinmeier Formula into Ukrainian legislation. The formula envisions holding free elections in the occupied territories under the Ukrainian law and granting the region self-governing status. The plan has been widely opposed, raising fears that the elections may allow for the region’s soft annexation by Russia.
Zelensky has pushed to amend the Minsk agreement in terms of border control. Ukraine wants to regain control over its separatist-held border with Russia before the elections, not after as the Minsk accord stipulates.
At a press briefing following hours of negotiations, Zelensky pledged that Ukraine will stay unitary and not federalize, that no foreign power will dictate Ukraine’s strategic course, and that no territories shall be relinquished. “Donbas and Crimea are Ukraine,” he reiterated.
The four-way summit took place for the first time in over three years, and prior to it, Russia and Ukraine withdrew their troops from three flashpoints and exchanged 70 political prisoners.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the talks’ progress.
Zelensky himself called it “a draw.”
In Kyiv, the results were met with cautious optimism and some relief.
“We expected worse,” said Mykhailo Basarab, a coordinator of the anti-capitulation movement. “But we still have concerns that what was adopted at the summit might be not implemented.”
Basarab, like many other Zelensky critics and opposition politicians, held back on praising the president. Someone picked at the fact Zelensky didn’t call Putin an aggressor. Others were skeptical because the summit didn’t bring any breakthroughs or because Putin might not follow the agreements, as had happened in the past.
Lawmaker and former President Petro Poroshenko said in a public statement on Dec. 10 that it was the massive protest (which his political party co-organized) that saved Ukraine from capitulation to Putin on the Normandy summit.
“However, there are no grounds for euphoria. The meeting demonstrated that Russia can’t be trusted and that there is no shortcut to peace.”
Lawmaker and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko welcomed the renewal of the Normandy dialogue and the decision for the all-for-all prisoner exchange. Her Batkivshchyna party once sought a coalition with Zelensky’s ruling faction in the parliament but eventually joined Poroshenko and rock star Svytoslav Vakarchuk’s party Voice in opposition amid disagreements over the land reform.
“Undoubtedly, it is a positive sign that… the position ‘first – restoration of control over borders, then elections’ was voiced,” she said.
However, she expressed concerns against legitimizing the Steinmeier Formula and its aim to grant the occupied territories of the Donbas not temporary but permanent special status.
Serhiy Rakhmanin, a lawmaker from Voice, said that the Paris summit only proved that the Minsk agreements were “dead” and any more meetings to discuss them will yield no results.
“If you heard Zelensky and Putin, you could have thought they were at different meetings,” Rakhmanin said at a TV show late on Dec. 9. “It means their points of view are absolutely irreconcilable.”
But some were more positive.
Ukrainska Pravda, Ukraine’s top news website, called the results of the meeting in Paris a “victory” for Zelensky.
Serhiy Sydorenko, an editor of Ukrainska Pravda’s international section, said that Merkel’s support for Zelensky’s view on updating the Minsk agreements in terms of border control counts as an achievement for Ukraine. He also praised Zelensky’s declaration against federalization or ceding its territories,
Political expert Volodymyr Fesenko also called Zelensky’s debut in challenging peace talks with Putin a success. From the viewpoint of achievable results, the Ukrainian president attained the possible maximum, he said.
“The process has moved forward. Zelensky withstood an important test. This is important for his own self-esteem too,” Fesenko said.
“Everyone expected his failure and capitulation to Putin. But there was no betrayal.”
