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What did the Paris Normandy summit achieve?
Summary
A look back at the Paris meeting of four leaders and the ceasefire pledge that came out of it.
What came out of the Paris talks on 9 December 2019? The meeting brought together Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel for discussions on ending the war in Donbass.
The summit was notable for two reasons. It was the first time Putin and Zelensky had met, and it was the first four-way leaders' meeting in the Normandy Format since 2016.
A ceasefire pledge
Following what was described as a breakthrough in the talks, Russia and Ukraine agreed to implement a ceasefire in the Donbass by the end of 2019. That gave the two sides a deadline of just over three weeks from the day of the meeting.
The format behind the meeting
The Normandy Format brought together Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France. The four countries first met informally in 2014, during the 70th anniversary of the D-Day celebrations in Normandy, France. The group later played a substantial role in mediating the Minsk agreements between 2014 and 2015.
The grouping continued to meet until 2022. Later meetings in 2022 failed to deescalate rising tensions before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That outcome lay well beyond the horizon of the Paris talks, which on 9 December 2019 were presented as a step towards a halt in the fighting in Donbass.
