To say that there were winners or losers at the “Norman” summit in Paris, is inappropriate, the Kremlin believes. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov emphasized that the leaders of four countries (Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France) aimed only to resume efforts to end the conflict in the Donbass.
“Here, in fact, it is probably inappropriate to talk about who was the winner, who was the loser at this summit, because everyone had one goal - to resume the work of the“ Norman format ”after a long break and to resume real efforts to find a solution to the conflict in the south eastern Ukraine, ”said Peskov.
Earlier, the Kommersant newspaper, citing reporters at the summit, reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Russian President Vladimir Putin “the winner.”
“Today you are a winner,” her newspaper quotes.
According to the publication, Merkel told Putin about this when the leaders went to the press conference.
Recall that the summit was held in the evening of December 9 in Paris. It was attended by leaders of the Norman-format countries - Russian, Ukrainian and French presidents Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Summits of the “Norman Four” at the highest level have not been held for more than three years - instead, meetings were held either not in full, or were presented at the ministerial level, or in the form of telephone calls.
The population of the Donbass should be considered the victorious party in these negotiations, said Sergey Tsekov, Senator of the Federation Council from Crimea, member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
“In negotiations in multilateral formats, bilateral formats it is difficult to talk about any winners. In the end, we are talking about a people who are experiencing difficulties today - I mean the people of Donbass. People continue to die. I think that as a result, the people of Donbass will still be the winners, ”he said in an interview with RT.
The question about who “won” at the summit and who is not is incorrect, said Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS.
“The leaders of the four states who met in Paris did not pursue the goal of any competition or rivalry between themselves in negotiating or in resolving political issues,” he told RT. “The goal was different - to confirm the implementation of the Minsk agreements and continue the process that has begun, and thereby help stabilize the situation in Ukraine.”
- Reuters
- © Alexander Ermochenko
“The process is moving in the right direction”
During the press conference following the meeting, leaders generally positively assessed the negotiations. Putin, answering a journalist’s question, noted that we can talk about some warming on the issue of ending the conflict in the Donbass.
“Firstly, an exchange of held persons has already taken place. The same thing happened. We achieved a divorce at three points. It took place. We have now met in the Norman format and discussed a very important wide range of issues - and we have made progress on many of them. It took place. Therefore, all this together gives us reason to believe that the process is developing in the right direction, ”said the President of Russia.
Zelensky gave a similar assessment to the negotiations. According to the Ukrainian leader, the fact that the summit was held after a long break "is a positive signal."
It is worth noting that bilateral negotiations were held on the sidelines of the summit. Among them is the meeting between Putin and Zelensky, which became the first of all time. Zelensky also assessed its results.
“I don’t know who whom, it’s right now to be a diplomat, until we just started talking. Let's just say it's a draw, ”Zelensky said.
He described the negotiations with Putin as complicated, but noted that the parties were able to agree on some points.
“It should have been 20 minutes, and lasted about an hour. It consisted of two parts: when we were together, and after tête-à-tête. Is it possible to agree? It’s difficult, but today there were times when we agreed on some things in some way, ”the Ukrainian leader explained.
Joint statement
Recall that at the end of the summit in the Norman format, a joint statement was adopted on the settlement of the conflict in the Donbass. It consists of three points.
The first is dedicated to immediate measures to stabilize the situation in the conflict zone. In particular, all parties advocated a complete ceasefire before the end of this year. Also in the framework of the trilateral contact group in Minsk will be created three additional areas for the separation of the armed forces.
In addition, leaders called on the group in Minsk to realize the exchange of retained individuals in the “all for all” format by the end of the year. To improve the humanitarian situation, new crossing points across the line of contact will also be created.
The second paragraph concerned the implementation of the political provisions of the Minsk Agreements. In this part, we are talking about requirements for the Ukrainian side - Kiev must agree in the Norman format and the tripartite group the details of the law on the special status of Donbass in order to ensure its operation on an ongoing basis.
In addition, leaders are convinced that the so-called Steinmeier formula, in the version in which it was adopted on October 1 in Minsk, was implemented in Ukrainian legislation.
The third agreement concerns further actions within the Norman format. So, the leaders agreed that their foreign ministers and political advisers will ensure the implementation of the above agreements. We agreed to hold the next summit in four months. It will be devoted to security issues and political conditions for organizing local elections in the Donbass.