Zelensky offers to meet presidents separately if no Normandy summit

President Zelensky stated on March 9 that if the
Normandy Four summit on Donbas does not meet in April, then he will meet the other
three leaders separately. Online media euroinegration.co.ua writes that
Zelensky, speaking at a press conference, stated that, “…if the mountain does
not come to Mohammed, then no problem – I’ll meet with everyone separately.”

The next Normandy Four summit is nominally scheduled
for April 2021. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, no summit has been
held since one in Paris in December 2019. An April 2020 summit in Berlin was
canceled because of the crisis.

Swedish foreign minister Anne Linde, who is also the
current OSCE head, stated in January that she sees Ukraine as having fulfilled
the conditions set in the latest Paris summit, while Russia has not.

James Hydzik: Any
face-to-face meeting between presidents Zelensky and Putin should be treated
with trepidation, as was proved by the disastrous Helsinki meeting between
presidents Trump and Putin. Moreover, while the cease-fire negotiated
previously regarding Donbas has largely held, the invaders have shown
repeatedly that the conflict can be escalated at will. The resulting freezing
and heating of the conflict is a matter of calculation.

At the same time, COVID aside, a multilateral
meeting could help with regard to humanitarian issues along the front line, and
should be welcomed.