Paris Summit: Russia-Ukraine agree to cease fire

At a Paris Summit mediated by Germany and France, Russia and Ukraine agreed to restore peace by implementing cease fire. Both the countries also agreed on prisoner exchanges.

Highlights

On December 9, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to cease fire in the eastern Ukraine by the end of 2019. The countries also pledged to disengage military forces in the other three additional regions of Ukraine by the end of March 2020.

During the meet, the issue of Russian gas exports through the Ukraine border have been fixed. However, the countries still disagree on certain issues like withdrawl of Russia-back troops, elections to be held by the separatist rebels in areas of Ukraine.

The Deadly Conflict

In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula of Ukraine with the help of pro-Russian separatists. Following this, Russia conducted several military actions. Crimea Peninsula is located in the north of Black sea. The Peninsula is important as it had port access to the Black sea. In 2018, Russian Navy seized three Ukrainian ships in the Crimea Peninsula. In 2019, Zelensky won Presidential elections. Zelensky is the major competitor to the Russia supported leader Viktor Yanukovych.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2019