FORMAT NORMANDIE IS A SUCCCESSFUL NEW STEP MACRON SAYS ON 9th DEC AT ELYSEE

USPA NEWS - The French President Macron, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Angela Merkel, the President of the Russian Federation and the President Vladimir Poutine and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, met in Paris on 9th December, for the Summit « Format Normandie », in order to « defreeze the negotiations » about the Donbass conflict, since 2014. During the Press conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron announced that another Summit should be held in four months between representatives of the four countries. The French head of state also recalled, during the press conference, that the "Normandy format" was the only diplomatic format allowing the implementation of the Minsk peace agreements. If only diplomacy, and bold diplomacy could, for once, lead to a happy ending, and reaching out peace through this Format Normandie.

CONTEXT OF THE DONBASS CONFLICT IN UKRAINE SINCE 2014------------------------------------------------------------- In March 2014, amidst bilateral tensions after the pro-European turn of Ukraine, Russia annexed Crimea, while in April two autonomous republics were proclaimed in the east of the country by secessionist militants close to the Kremlin: the Lugansk Republic and the Donetsk Republic. If the war has not ceased so far, the expression "Normandy format" has flourished. Fighting between the Ukrainian authorities and two self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk broke out after a coup in Kiev which overthrew President Victor Yanukovich. The talks finally resulted in a peace plan, known as the “Minsk Accords“, in early 2015.

THE NORMANDY FORMAT EXPRESSION WAS CREATED BY JOURNALIST RAHMA SOPHIA RACHDI IN 2014 The expression, now consecrated, was born in June 27, 2014 at the end of a European Council Summit in Brussels. That day, Rahma Sophia Rachdi, a correspondent for the US Press Agency, was worried about the French President François Hollande at the time if the "Normandy Model" would continue. Unable to pronounce the word "Ouistreham" near the Château de Benouville where the famous meeting of the four heads of state took place, The Journalist Rahma Sophia Rachdi, then uses "Normandy" to use a term phonetically simpler and more understandable Americans. Indeed, the “Normandy format“ was thus designed in 2014 to try to stop the conflict in eastern Ukraine, in the form of a new format of diplomacy, quadripartite quite unique and born of this initial meeting Spontaneous at the Chateau de Benouville, between President Francois Hollande, host of places, Chancellor Angela, Presidents Vladimir Putin, and Petro Poroshenko, on the sidelines of the 70-year celebration of D-Day, American landing of Allied troops in Normandy, to release France, at Ouistreham, on this occasion. A year ago, Rahma Sophia Rachdi came back on her linguistic find with Ouest France "I used this expression because it was a new diplomatic model to four, quite new in my eyes. I think that, in the end, he thought there was something to be reiterated. " Adapted in French, the term soon became the "Normandy format" and designates a quadripartite meeting, unprecedented, bringing together the representatives of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia, seeking a political solution to the conflict, born five years ago, which inflames Ukrainian territory and poisons relations between Kiev and Moscow.Source: BFM TV, West France, Le Figaro

THE MINSK AGREEMENTS & FORMAT NORMANDIE AIM TO END THE COFNLICT AND LEAD TO PEACE The Minsk agreements (Minsk Protocol of 5 September 2014, Minsk Memorandum of 19 September 2014 and the Minsk Package of Measures of 12 February 2015) continue to be the basis of the work of the Normandy format whose member states are committed to their full implementation. They underline their shared aspiration to a sustainable and comprehensive architecture of trust and security in Europe, based on the OSCE principles, for which the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine is one of several important steps. On this basis, they decide on the following: 1. IMMEDIATE MEASURES TO STABILIZE THE SITUATION IN THE CONFLICT AREA----------------------------------- The sides commit to a full and comprehensive implementation of the ceasefire, strengthened by the implementation of all necessary ceasefire support measures, before the end of the year 2019. They will support the development and implementation of an updated demining plan, on the basis of the decision of the Trilateral Contact Group on demining activities, dated March 3, 2016. They will support an agreement within the Trilateral Contact Group on three additional disengagement areas, with the aim of disengaging forces and equipment by the end of March 2020. They encourage the Trilateral Contact Group to facilitate the release and exchange of conflict-related detainees by the end of the year, based on the principle of “all for all“, starting with “all identified for all identified“, with the understanding that international organisations including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) be granted full and unconditional access to all detained persons. They will support an agreement within the Trilateral Contact Group, within 30 days, on new crossing points along the line of contact, based primarily on humanitarian criteria. They recall that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) should be able to use all possibilities of the 21 March 2014 mandate, and have safe and secure access throughout Ukraine in order to fully implement its mandate. 2. MEASURES TO IMPLEMENT THE POLITICAL PROVISIONS OF THE MINSK AGREEMENTS------------------------- The sides express interest in agreeing within the Normandy format (N4) and the Trilateral Contact Group on all the legal aspects of the Special Order of Local Self-Government - special status - of Certain Areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions - as outlined in the Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements from 2015 - in order to ensure its functioning on a permanent basis. They consider it necessary to incorporate the “Steinmeier formula“ into the Ukrainian legislation, in accordance with the version agreed upon within the N4 and the Trilateral Contact Group. 3. FOLLOW UP----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They ask their Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Political Advisors to ensure the implementation of the agreements reached and they agree to have another meeting in this format within four months on the Source : Elysee