Three days before the first round of peace talks to be held in Paris among the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany, dubbed the “Normandy Format,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared on the TV talk show “Freedom of Speech of Savik Shuster” in Kyiv on the evening on Dec. 6 to discuss his expectations for the negotiations.
And his expectations from the historical meeting are high, with an eye towards tangible outcomes, particularly on the release of Ukrainian prisoners and responsibility for enforcing a cease-fire in the Donbas.
“I want to return with concrete results,” said Zelensky, dressed in army green having arrived at the show from the front line, and reiterating his campaign promises to end Russia’s war and return Ukrainian prisoners and illegally seized territories.
Ukraine has already fulfilled its obligations on disengagement of forces in Donbas and agreed to the peace plan laid out in the Steinmeier formula, which mandates local elections in the Russian-controlled areas of Donbas followed by special, self-governing status for the region.
But Russia continues to violate the cease-fire on an almost daily basis. On Dec. 6, there were 14 attacks and two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded.
“I want to understand exactly how many people we can return home and when. The second question is if there is a ceasefire, who is responsible for this, not only the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe),” said Zelensky.
Yet he sees the upcoming summit as a positive step. It will be the first direct peace negotiations in more than three years.
“Since 2016 there was no dialogue, which means there was no opportunity to talk about ending the war,” said Zelensky.
The president also stressed that he wants Ukraine to be perceived as equal to the negotiators with a strong voice in the world.
“When representatives of empires are sitting at the table, I really do not want us to be the dish served to these big bosses. I want us to sit at this table too and to be accepted as an equal, independent, strong country,” said Zelensky.
The meeting in Paris will be Zelensky’s first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, though the two spoke by phone in July about the release of Ukrainian sailors.
“But it was a phone talk, I want to see the person and I want to bring from Normandy understanding and feeling that everybody really wants gradually to finish this tragic war,” said Zelensky.
“I can feel it for sure only at the table.”
The president’s main concern is leaving the negotiations without clear results. He expressed hope that French President Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, will stand in support of Ukraine.
