Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that he discussed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel efforts to restore peace in Donbas
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2021) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that he discussed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel efforts to restore peace in Donbas.
"Glad to talk to Angela #Merkel. I wish good health to every German citizen during the #COVID19 pandemic. Germany has always been a reliable friend and partner for Ukraine. We continue to coordinate our efforts to establish peace in #Donbas," Zelenskyy said on Twitter.
On Tuesday, political advisers of Russian, German, French and Ukrainian leaders met in Berlin. The talks lasted for over six hours. The sides discussed the implementation of the political agreements on the Donbas crisis settlement, which were reached at the historic 2019 Paris summit. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the negotiations of the political advisers did not have the desired outcome. The Ukrainian president's office said that the next meeting would be held on January 22.
On December 9, 2019, the Normandy group adopted a joint communique in Paris at their first summit in three years, also reaching an agreement to meet in Berlin in four months to continue efforts toward Donbas peace. The communique affirmed the Minsk accords as the basis for the crisis settlement, envisioned the separation of forces in three new locations across Donbas, and called for a ceasefire. The Berlin summit was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic leaving some tasks set by the Paris summit unfulfilled.
In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and its neighboring Luhansk People's Republic after they proclaimed independence from Ukraine and refused to recognize the new central government, which came to power after what they considered to be a coup. According to the United Nations, roughly 13,000 people have been killed during the conflict.
