Live Updates: Leaders of Normandy Four Countries Discuss Situation in Ukraine

The participants of the Normandy Four summit discussed the implementation of the so-called Steinmeier formula, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

"We in Paris discussed various topics, in particular, the implementation of the Steinmeier formula," Merkel said on Monday.

Merkel added that the four leaders - Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and herself - had also agreed to stick to it.

During the press conference, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Russia will do its best to put an end to the Ukraine conflict, noting that conflicting sides must have 'direct dialogue'.

"The stability on the European continent and the construction of a new architecture of trust and security go through the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine in the framework of the Minsk agreements. And therefore, today's meeting [of the Normandy Four] was important," Macron said at a press conference after the Normandy Four summit in Paris.

"A big progress has really been achieved today. There was the first meeting of [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin and [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy. And I would like to thank [Zelenskyy] for this real determination and courage that he showed in settling the conflict in his country," Macron said at a press conference after the Normandy Four summit in Paris.

The Normandy Four summit has ended in Paris, the last two hours of talks were held during a working dinner, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

In total, the talks in Paris lasted about five and a half hours, including the one-and-a-half-hour talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Now, Putin, Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a joint press conference.

The gas talks that were held in Paris on the margins of the Normandy Four summit on Monday were "constructive," Naftogaz Executive Director Yuriy Vitrenko said.

"There was constructive dialogue. We presented our position … including on gas issues," Vitrenko told journalists, adding that the sides "agreed to continue negotiations."

The first-ever bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ended in Paris after an hour and 20 minutes of discussions.

The first-ever bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has begun in Paris, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The talks between the leaders of the two countries are being held following the Normandy Four summit on the Donbass conflict settlement. Putin and Zelensky have never met before and have only had a few telephone conversations in the past.

According to the protocol of the summit, the meeting should take about 45 minutes. However, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov earlier said that the Putin-Zelensky talks are not limited in time.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and French President Emmanuel Macron are meeting in a bid to settle the Donbass conflict in eastern Ukraine. It is their first meeting following a three-year hiatus and a debut for Zelensky, a novice to the format.

The Russian and German heads of state reportedly discussed, among other topics, last week's expulsion of two Russian diplomats from Germany over Russia's alleged link to the murder of a Georgian man in Berlin.

Розпочалася зустріч Президента @ZelenskyyUa 🇺🇦 та Президента @EmmanuelMacron 🇫🇷 в рамках Нормандського саміту в Парижі.

— Офіс Президента (@APUkraine) December 9, 2019