Zelenskiy agrees to revive Minsk peace talks in Normady Four format

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le
Drian on May 30 in Kyiv to discuss ways to revive the Minsk Accords peace
talks, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency said. “We reached the agreement that we
will try to fulfill the Minsk Accords in the Normandy Four framework of talks
between France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine for peace to be established in
eastern Ukraine,” Maas said. In his turn, Zelenskiy cited the support for
France and Germany in reaching a cease-fire in Donbas, which he characterized
as “the main priority of every Ukrainian.”

The same day, Zelenskiy met with U.S. Senator Robert
Portman, a member of the foreign relations committee. “We have two wars inside
the country – a war with Russia and a war against corruption – that are a
threat to Ukraine’s economy, above all,” Zelenskiy said at that meeting, as
reported by his press service.

Zenon Zawada: We are
confident that Zelenskiy held this meeting primarily as a means of establishing
a working relationship with his counterparts in the West and building political
capital, rather than accomplishing anything tangible. In his election campaign,
Zelenskiy several times called for further peace talks with Russia to include
diplomats representing the U.S. and Great Britain, yet he decided to set aside
that pledge, at least for now. These leaders also agreed to try to fulfill the Minsk
Accords, though that is virtually impossible at this point for several reasons.
Among them, Russia recently having decided to grant citizenship to the
residents of occupied Donbas.

We continue to see Zelenskiy’s only options in Donbas
as (1) relying on the West to intensify sanctions against Russia or (2)
agreeing to some form of capitulation. Given that he won’t achieve his main
campaign promise of reaching a ceasefire anytime soon, he will have to focus on
achieving gains in what he correctly identified as Ukraine’s other main
warfront – against corruption – in the first months of his presidency in order
to impress the public.