Russia and Ukraine restart peace talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time for peace talks. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who previously sought to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, also met with the leaders in Paris.

What did the two sides decide on? Putin and Zelensky agreed to a “full and comprehensive implementation” of a cease-fire and to exchange all prisoners by the end of the year. The five-year conflict in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 13,000 people. There have been more than a dozen cease-fire announcements, but they rarely last longer than a few weeks.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Stew about Ukraine’s decadeslong conflict with Russia—and its connection to the House impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump.