Ukraine Peace Talks Get Breakthrough as Kyiv Accepts Compromise by Aliaksandr Kudrytski, Volodymyr Verbyany and Kateryna Choursina – Bloomberg News
Talks to end the five-year conflict in eastern Ukraine produced the first major breakthrough since a lapsed 2015 peace accord, paving the way for an international summit to cement progress.
Negotiators meeting Tuesday in the Belarusian capital of Minsk agreed on a schedule under which elections will be held in the breakaway regions and a new law will be passed granting them special status. The plan was proposed by Frank-Walter Steinmeier when he was Germany’s foreign minister and is known as the Steinmeier formula.
The agreement comes as new President Volodymyr Zelenskiy targets better relations with Russia. He reiterated Tuesday that Ukraine wants a cease-fire, a withdrawal of Russian-backed fighters and control of its border back before ballots are cast...