Normandy Four meets as Merkel, Macron take lead on Ukraine

Deputy foreign ministers of the Normandy Four countries are holding a working meeting in Berlin on Tuesday, May 30. This meeting comes as a prelude to one called by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of France Emmanuel Macron and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.

James Hydzik: Today’s meeting is the first discussion on Ukraine since President Macron met Russian president Vladimir Putin at Versailles yesterday for what has been termed, “a frank discussion.” It also comes on the heels of Europe’s first face-to-face meetings with U.S. president Donald Trump. Last week’s encounters with Trump have led German Chancellor Angela Merkel to state on the campaign trail on Saturday that “We have to know that we must fight for our future on our own, for our destiny as Europeans,” the New York Times reports, and that, “The times in which we could rely fully on others – they are somewhat over.”

While we do not expect much to occur in Berlin today, we will be watching for signs that the new order has indeed created a new impetus to move forward in bringing the warfare in south-eastern Donbas to an end. However, we do not expect much change at this time.