MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, agreed Monday to revive peace talks in order to de-escalate tensions between the two nations amid the five-year separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine that has reshaped geopolitics in the region.
Both leaders agreed to exchange all prisoners and implement a cease-fire by the end of the year in the first face-to-face meeting between the pair since Zelensky, a comedian-turned-politician, was elected in April, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“We unblocked dialogue with Russia, a positive step... Unfortunately, we couldn’t settle all issues today,” Zelensky said at a joint news conference in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who mediated the talks.
Putin and Zelensky also held a separate one-on-one meeting.
The issues concerning local elections and who controlled borders in rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine remained unsolved. Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists have exchanged fire multiple times across the front lines in the region.
“I would like to emphasize the importance for Ukraine of restoring its full control over its border,” Zelensky said, noting the world leaders would return to the issue at a summit in four months.
Around 14,000 people have been killed in the ongoing fighting over Russian intervention in Ukraine. The United States has backed Ukraine and, along with other nations, has imposed sanctions against Moscow for its takeover of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. (Fox News)