Renewed Normandy Four Summit Result Of Ukrainian 'Diplomatic Offensive' - Minister

Ukraine's campaign to reignite the Normandy Four talks can be seen as a diplomatic offensive, the country's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Dmitry Kuleba said Monday

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th December, 2019) Ukraine's campaign to reignite the Normandy Four talks can be seen as a diplomatic offensive, the country's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Dmitry Kuleba said Monday.

"I see that the meeting itself in the Normandy format is a diplomatic offensive by Ukraine because for three years, nothing happened. Everyone wanted an offensive and now � here you go," Kuleba said in an aired broadcast by TSN news outlet.

The leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine, commonly referred to as the Normandy Four, will meet in Paris later in the day to discuss the Donbas crisis settlement. It will become their first meeting after a three-year hiatus and a debut for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a novice in the format.

Zelenskyy has wasted no time going about to fulfill his lofty campaign promises of ending the conflict in Ukraine's east and tackling endemic corruption head-on. Drawing much criticism at home, Zelenskyy agreed to a simultaneous withdrawal of forces from the Donbas contact line and the adoption of the so-called Steinmeier formula which looks to grant the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk semi-autnomous status.

It will also be the first face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart.