In 1st talks, Putin, Zelenskiy focus on ending Ukraine war
PARIS — President Vladimir Putin of Russia met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine for the first time Monday at a summit in Paris to try to end five years of war between Ukrainian troops and Moscowbacked separatists.
Both sat down at the French presidential palace along with the leaders of France and Germany for talks focused on reviving a 2015 peace agreement for eastern Ukraine that has largely stalled. Since 2014, the war has killed 14,000 people, emboldened the Kremlin and reshaped European geopolitics.
A major breakthrough is unlikely, and Ukrainian protesters in Kyiv are heaping pressure on their new leader not to surrender too much to Putin, who has been in office nearly 20 years.
But the fact that Putin and Zelenskiy met at all was a significant step after years of war. Putin and Zelenskiy faced each other across the table, flanked by French President Emmanuel
Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Putin and Zelenskiy held a separate meeting later. On his way to their dinner, Putin said he was satisfied with the meeting, adding: “It was good, I’m glad.”
Whatever happens, the summit is the biggest test yet for Zelenskiy, a comic actor and political novice who won the presidency this year in a landslide — partly on promises to end the war.
The 2015 peace agreement helped to reduce the intensity of the fighting, but Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists have continued to exchange fire across World War I-style trenches along a front line that slices through eastern Ukraine.
While Zelenskiy still enjoys broad public support, he has been embarrassed by the scandal around his discussions with President Donald Trump that have unleashed an impeachment inquiry in Washington. The U.S. is an important military backer for Ukraine, which is outgunned by Russia.
With U.S. influence waning around the world, many in Kyiv see one clear winner: Russia.
Some Ukrainians fear Zelenskiy will be outmaneuvered by Putin. Several thousand protesters rallied in the Ukrainian capital Sunday to urge Zelenskiy not to make any concessions to Russia, and 100 opposition activists set up a tent camp outside his office with banners reading “No to capitulation!”
Russia wants to use the summit to increase pressure on Zelenskiy to fulfill the 2015 Minsk peace accord, which promises wide autonomy to Ukraine’s rebel-held regions.
Zelenskiy wants to tweak the timeline laid out in the Minsk accord, which calls for Ukraine to be able to regain control of its border with Russia only after local elections are held in the separatist regions and the regions receive autonomous status. Zelenskiy says Ukraine must get control of its border first before local elections are held, but the Kremlin insists that’s not an option.
French officials say potential changes to the timeline will be discussed but stressed the summit is aimed at fulfilling the Minsk accord, not writing a new deal.