(ANSA-AP) - PARIS, 10 DEC - The presidents of Ukraine and
Russia agreed Monday to revive the peace process on the bloody
separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine and exchange all their
prisoners, but they failed to resolve crucial issues such as a
timeline on local elections and control of the borders in the
rebel-held region.
At the first meeting between new Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the
two leaders failed to find a compromise to bring an end to the
5-year-old war that has killed 14,000 people, emboldened the
Kremlin and reshaped European geopolitics. But they did agree to
try again in four months to find new solutions, said French
President Emmanuel Macron, who mediated the talks along with
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and called them "fruitful" in
that it brought all four leaders together. "There are
disagreements, especially on timeline and next steps. We had a
very long discussion on this," Macron said at a news conference
after the talks in the Elysee palace.
The talks focused on reviving a largely stalled 2015 peace
agreement intended to end fighting between Ukrainian troops and
Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Putin said they
agreed that there was no alternative to the 2015 accord reached
in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. He emphasized that Ukraine
should quickly extend a law giving wide autonomy to the
rebel-held regions in line with the deal and also approve a
legislation granting amnesty to the rebels. He added that in
addition to the prisoner swap, agreement was reached to continue
pulling back troops in other areas in the east, clear mines
there and remove fortifications. (ANSA-AP).
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