Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first time since taking office, at a summit in Paris on Monday to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine.
Convened by French President Emmanuel Macron and also attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the summit is the first real test for the Ukrainian leader who ran for office on a pledge to end the protracted conflict in his country.
Adding to the pressure for the comedian-turned-politician is the fact that thousands rallied on Sunday in Kyiv calling on him not to “capitulate” and grant Putin too many concessions.
More than 13,000 people have died in the five-year conflict opposing Ukrainian security forces and Russian-backed separatists, including some 3,300 civilians, according to the UN.
A ceasefire was agreed to in the Minsk Protocol signed in 2014 but has been violated with outbreaks of fighting regularly recorded near Donetsk and Luhansk.