Ukraine's Zelenskiy Seeks Peace Talks 'In Any Format,' Ending War In East A Priority

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a formula proposed by Germany three years ago as a way of breaking the deadlock for achieving peace in the Donbas conflict would only be implemented once four-way talks take place with Russia, Germany, and France.

Fielding questions during a marathon news conference in Kyiv on October 10, Zelenskiy said the blueprint proposed in 2016 by then-German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier would be enshrined in a new "special status" law for the separatist-controlled territories and drafted only after the so-called Normandy format discussions take place.

"Will there be a special status law through which the Steinmeier Formula will be implemented -- we’ll decide together with you only after the Normandy format meeting and after we learn what all sides are proposing," Zelenskiy said at his first full-fledged news conference since being elected in April.

The formula proposed by Steinmeier -- who in the mean time has become the president of Germany -- calls for elections to be held in the separatist-held territories under Ukrainian legislation and the supervision of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

If the OSCE deems the balloting to be free and fair, then a special self-governing status for the territories will be initiated and Ukraine will be returned control of its easternmost border with Russia.

Explainer: What Is The Steinmeier Formula -- And Did Zelenskiy Just Capitulate To Moscow?

Zelenskiy announced on October 1 that he signed Ukraine up to the formula, a move that spurred protests that he was essentially surrendering to Moscow’s demands.

One thing that is not clear is what giving the easternmost territories special status will entail. In the past Russia insisted that the two Donbas regions should have veto power on foreign-policy decisions like integrating with the European Union or joining NATO.

Another uncertainty is the sequence of steps that should be taken during the formula's implementation.

Zelenskiy has stated that local elections in the Donbas won’t take place until all armed formations leave the occupied area and Kyiv regains control of its borders with Russia in addition to having candidates from throughout the country to run.

"I’m the peace president. I want to end the war. The public didn't vote for a president who'll say: 'We have a combat-ready army and are ready for direct military action.' That’s why a diplomatic path has been chosen," he said.

Agreeing to Steinmeier's proposal was supposed to break the current deadlock and bring Russia back to the negotiation table.

However, Zelenskiy said on October 10 that the Normandy format meeting has been postponed over the pullback of troops that was supposed to happen at three civilian checkpoints along the front line.

Fighting has stopped near two of the checkpoints but not at a third, the president said, adding that pullbacks were agreed once shooting stops for seven consecutive days.

If the Normandy format meeting keeps getting postponed, Zelenskiy said he will seek another way to meet because he wants to exchange prisoners.

"I think a resolution will be found at the Normandy format meeting," he said. "If it gets postponed because the pullback didn’t take place -- at the Zolote [checkpoint] there is still shooting -- then we’ll find another format to return our people.”

Zelenskiy added that he's ready even for direct talks with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

An alternative is the so-called Minsk accords that his predecessor, Petro Poroshenko, agreed to in Minsk four years ago with Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former French President Francois Hollande.

The Minsk accord, which is still in effect, is a cease-fire agreement and a road map for achieving lasting peace.

One of its clauses is to have an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange.

According to the Ukrainian Security Service, 227 Ukrainians are being held in the territories in eastern Ukraine that Kyiv doesn’t control.

Ukrainian Ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova has stated that 113 Ukrainian prisoners are currently being held either in Russia or Russia-annexed Crimea.

Here's more from RFE/RL's news desk on the arrested Giuliani associates:

Two Soviet-Born Men Linked To Giuliani Arrested In Florida For Campaign Finance Violations

Two businessmen from the former Soviet Union have been arrested for allegedly breaking U.S. campaign finance laws.

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office said on October 10 that Ukrainian-born Lev Parnas and Belarusian-born Igor Fruman, who are associated with President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, were apprehended in New York.

According to a federal court filing in New York, the two men conspired to "funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and state office."

Reuters quoted John Dowd, a lawyer for both men, as declining to comment on the charges.

The indictment alleges that Parnas and Fruman concealed the source of the donations by "laundering foreign money through bank accounts in the names" of companies and via "straw contributors" rather than in the name of the true source of funds.

Their financing efforts were intended to allegedly "advance their personal financial interests and the political interests of at least one Ukrainian government official with whom they were working."

In 2018 the two suspects made donations of at least $576,000 to various campaigns of Republicans, according to an investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

The bulk of the sum -- $325,000 -- went on May 17, 2018, to America First Action -- one of the largest pro-Trump Super Political Action Committees, OCCRP reported.

The Campaign Legal Center, a transparency advocacy group, flagged the donation and filed a complaint in July 2018 with the Federal Election Commission, calling on it to investigate whether Parnas and Fruman had violated campaign-finance laws.

Fruman and Parnas furthermore helped raise funds for an unnamed “Congressman-1" whose assistance they sought to allegedly "remove or recall" then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, the indictment read.

She was abruptly recalled to Washington in May several months before her three-year tenure was supposed to expire. According to a government whistle-blower’s account, which prompted a congressional impeachment inquiry of Trump, Yovanovitch was unfavorable to Giuliani and to former Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko.

Reporting by OCCRP alleges that the congressman whom Parnas and Fruman had approached in May was former Congressman Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican.

After their meeting, Sessions wrote a private letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calling for Yovanovitch’s dismissal.

Sessions acknowledged to OCCRP that he had written the letter and met the two suspects, but couldn’t remember when or where the discussion took place.

"I do know both these gentlemen [Fruman and Parnas]," Sessions told OCCRP. "They are Republicans. They are people who have an interest in foreign affairs. They have a strong interest in America not backing away from Ukraine."

The Wall Street Journal reported that they both men will appear in federal court in Virginia later on October 10.

The two men are said to have introduced Giuliani to high-level Ukrainian politicians.

The arrests come as Trump faces an impeachment inquiry by the Democrat-led House of Representatives, sparked by a July phone call between the U.S. president and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

In the call, Trump appears to urge Zelenskiy several times to launch an investigation into his Democrat rival, former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who worked for a Ukrainian energy company.

Parnas and Fruman were scheduled this week to be deposed by three House committees carrying out the impeachment inquiry. However, their lawyer had already said they wouldn’t appear.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, OCCRP, and The Wall Street Journal