The recent Normandy Four summit generated several positive agreements, but they are not sufficient enough to turn the tide in Ukraine's crisis, Tiberio Graziani, the chairman of think tank Vision & Global Trends, International Institute for Global Analyses, told Sputnik on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2019) The recent Normandy Four summit generated several positive agreements, but they are not sufficient enough to turn the tide in Ukraine's crisis, Tiberio Graziani, the chairman of think tank Vision & Global Trends, International Institute for Global Analyses, told Sputnik on Tuesday.On Monday, the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine met in Paris in the Normandy format after a three-year hiatus to discuss the settlement of the Donbas crisis. The summit adopted a joint communique that outlines the next steps in the peace process, including an "all for all" exchange of conflict-related detainees and the implementation of the ceasefire by the year-end, as well as the coordination of new areas for the disengagement of forces.
"The result that we can draw from this Paris summit which is the sixth meeting in the Normandy format is substantially positive, as the negotiating path is becoming more and more concrete. However, I believe that the agreements reached are not, at the moment, so decisive as to determine a turning point in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis," Graziani said.
According to the expert, Russia and Ukraine are "still far away" on a spate of issues.
"I agree with the opinion expressed by Chancellor [Angela] Merkel, according to which the summit has, in a certain way, overcome the stalemate in the negotiations for the resolution of the conflict," he stated.
As for such important agreements produced as the further disengagement of troops and a prisoner exchange, one should wait until the end of the year and the first months of 2020, respectively, to see whether they will be implemented, Graziani said.
"Realistically, we should not expect much. I think the agreements will be partially respected, but this is already a great step forward in the structuring of the negotiating path. Despite the goodwill expressed by the participants at the summit, in fact, it will also be necessary to take into account the local context and the requests regarding the assignment of a special status for the separatist regions," he added.
The conflict in Donbas, a Ukrainian territory with a predominantly Russian-speaking population, broke out in 2014. Back then, Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which refused to recognize the new government in Kiev that came to power after what they considered to be a coup. According to UN data, the Donbas conflict has already claimed the lives of about 13,000 people.
