“And we will be glad when mentions of Ukraine as a dangerous zone disappear from the pages of international reports. More than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict, Europe’s only active war. Moscow went on to annex Crimea and support insurgents in eastern Ukraine. The talks upheld the so-called “Steinmeier formula” on the interpretation of which Minsk and Moscow also differ. In December, Zelenskiy met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris as part of the Normandy Format talks which so far have failed to produce a concrete resolution to the conflict. Moscow and Kiyv however differ on the interpretation of the accord.

“To come to a political solution, the Minsk agreement has to be implemented, the Normandy format is meant to create trust,” Maas said after a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Vadym Prystaiko.Ī 2015 Franco-German brokered deal calls for the withdrawal of heavy weapons, the restoration of Kyiv’s control over its borders, wider autonomy for separatist-held regions of Donetsk and Lugansk and the holding of local elections.

On the sidelines of the Conference, representatives of the ‘Normandy Four’ format – Germany, Ukraine, France, and Russia – are set to agree on the next Normandy summit, likely to be held in Berlin, German foreign minister Heiko Maas confirmed to reporters. Addressing the Munich Security Conference on Saturday (15 February), Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy repeated his plea for Western support, while indicating his openness to hold local elections in the separatist-held regions of Donetsk and Lugansk together with the rest of the country in October.

Ukraine local elections 2020