Zelensky and Putin Wrap Up Face-to-Face Meeting. Border Talks Fail, but Prisoner Exchange Will Go Ahead

Nothing is clear yet about gas.

Presidents of Ukraine and Russia Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin wrapped up their face-to-face meeting in Paris.

After the meeting, walking down the corridor of the Élysée Palace, Putin looked pleased and described the meeting as having gone “well, in a businesslike way.”

Zelensky's reaction is not yet known. However, Foreign Minister Arsen Avakov, who is part of the delegation, rated the meeting “4 out of 5” while passing journalists, Dariya Tarasova, correspondent for the programme “Freedom of Speech with Savik Shuster,” reported on Facebook.

A little later, another brief comment from Avakov came out, but nothing specific could be learned from him except the words “Zrady nema” (there is no betrayal).

Meanwhile, “Ukrainska Pravda reports citing one of the delegation's representatives that Putin and Zelensky failed to agree on the border. Elections in the occupied territories in 2020 are under a huge question mark.

“Hromadske” confirms this information, but adds that an agreement was reached on the disengagement of forces at three more sites. Zelensky proposed holding elections in Donbas one and a half days after foreign troops withdraw from there, but Putin did not agree to this.

At the same time, the sides reportedly agreed on a prisoner exchange. It must take place by December 31.

Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko commented on the gas issue as follows: “The presidents will talk about the agreements. At the level of business entities, we agreed to continue negotiating.”

Following the Zelensky-Putin meeting, work will continue in the Normandy Four format, with the participation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.