PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2019) The summit of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany has concluded in Paris after over two-hour-long talks on the conflict in Donbas, the Elysee Palace said on Monday.
The summit began at 5:20 p.m. local time (16:20 GMT). The leaders are expected to hold a final press conference once the presidents of Russia and Ukraine have additional bilateral talks.
According to a Sputnik correspondent reporting from the scene, talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have already begun.
The Normandy Four format was established in June 2014 to mediate the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, known together as Donbas, proclaimed independence following what they considered to be a coup in Kiev in February of that year. The Ukrainian government launched an offensive in retaliation.
In 2015, the Normandy Four negotiated the so-called Minsk II protocol which stipulated immediate ceasefire and equidistant pull-out of military hardware from the contact line.
