Macron and Putin discuss Donbas 'special status' during phone call
French President Emmanuel Macron held a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Presidents discussed the situation in Ukraine in advance of the Normandy Four Summit, which is scheduled for December 9 in Paris, reports the Kremlin's press service.
Macron and Putin noted that "holding such a meeting should contribute to the quick and full implementation of the Minsk agreements."
"In this context, the importance of Kyiv to fulfill its obligations on the political aspects of the internal Ukrainian settlement was noted. First of all, the law on the special status of the Donbas should enter into force," reads the Kremlin’s statement.
During a telephone conversation on November 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron also discussed the upcoming Normandy Four Summit in Paris. According to the Le Figaro newspaper, the summit aims to "start a new sequence of steps towards implementation of the Minsk agreements."
A meeting of foreign policy advisers to the leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France, and Russia, aiming to restore the Normandy Four format, took place on July 14 in Paris and on September 2 in Berlin. Earlier, the meeting of the Normandy Four leaders was scheduled for September 17, but it was canceled at Russia's initiative.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had not taken part in the Normandy Four Summit since March 2018, when the leaders of the four countries made a joint statement. The last meeting of the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, and Russia took place in Berlin in October 2016.