Ukraine’s new president says he believes an international summit taking place next week will help achieve a lasting cease-fire in the country’s separatist conflict.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late Friday ahead of talks with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany in Paris on Monday that he also expects to negotiate a deal to exchange all prisoners.
More than 14,000 people have died in fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatist rebels since the conflict erupted in 2014.
Ukraine and Russia struck a prisoner exchange deal in September and agreed on a troop pullback from two locations in eastern Ukraine as part of efforts to pave the way for the Paris talks.
Zelenskiy, a 41-year old comic actor with no previous political experience, was elected in a landslide in April on promises to end the fighting.