PARIS—The leaders of Russia and Ukraine agreed on measures to de-escalate the conflict in Eastern Ukraine but fell short of a breakthrough in talks aimed at lowering tensions in a region that has become a flashpoint between Moscow and the West.
In their first face-to-face meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian-turned-politician who was elected in April, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said they agreed to implement a cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners by the end of the year. They also agreed on limited troop withdrawal in certain areas, and a plan to remove mines from the conflict zone.
“We unblocked dialogue with Russia, a positive step.…Unfortunately we couldn’t settle all issues today,” Mr. Zelensky said at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who mediated the talks.
“The process is going in the right direction,” Mr. Putin said, while acknowledging differences between Moscow and Kyiv’s positions remain.
Monday’s agreement was limited in scope, mainly reaffirming a peace deal reached four years ago in Minsk, Belarus. That accord stipulates the return of the border with Russia to Ukrainian control, the holding of elections in separatist-held regions and the granting of more autonomy to areas of Eastern Ukraine held by separatists. The deal’s implementation, however, has stalled as skirmishes and shelling have continued across the front line. Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations that they aren’t complying with the agreement.
“We haven’t found the miracle solution, but we are moving forward,” Mr. Macron said.
The Ukraine conflict, which has left more than 13,000 people dead, has deeply strained relations between Russia and the West. The U.S. and EU have imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow since it annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and launched a covert military operation in Eastern Ukraine, leaving a territory larger than the state of Connecticut under separatist control.
The diplomacy is part of a broader push by Mr. Macron for rapprochement with Russia as tensions with President Trump have led some European leaders to question the Continent’s long-term security ties to the U.S.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the bedrock of European security for decades, is in disarray as Washington demands more military spending from European allies and Turkey tests the alliance’s unity with its military campaign against the Kurds in North Syria. Those tensions recently led Mr. Macron to warn that NATO was in the throes of “brain death.”
Monday’s talks grew out of Mr. Macron’s decision to revive a diplomatic quartet that doesn’t include the U.S. Known as the Normandy group, it was established in 2014 when leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine met on the sidelines of the 70th anniversary of allied landings in Normandy.
“To a great extent, this meeting is a product of Macron,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, head of a Kremlin defense and foreign-policy advisory board.
The stakes are high for Mr. Zelensky. A political neophyte, he was elected on a pledge to end a military conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east but has since become embroiled in the impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump.
The inquiry has scrutinized communications between the Trump administration and Mr. Zelensky, leading some Ukrainian officials to worry the impeachment hearings could damage Ukraine’s longer-term ties with the U.S., on which Kyiv relies for financial, military and political support, and provide Moscow an opportunity to expand its own influence.
Domestically, Mr. Zelensky also has limited room to maneuver, with a series of protests in Kyiv in recent weeks, including a major rally on Sunday, warning against any capitulation to Russia. Moscow, meanwhile, has issued passports to 125,000 residents of rebel-held Eastern Ukraine, Russian officials said on Monday.
Mr. Zelensky has overseen a series of steps to reduce tensions in recent months, including an exchange of 70 prisoners with Russia in September; the withdrawal of some front-line forces; and the return of Ukrainian ships Moscow seized last year.
On Monday, the leaders didn’t agree on some of the thorniest issues in the conflict, such as returning the Ukranian side of the border to Kyiv’s control. Russia and Ukraine also disagree on the sequencing of many steps of the Minsk agreement. Mainly, Mr. Zelensky said elections in separatist-held regions should be held only after Ukraine has regained control of its territory.
“I would like to emphasize the importance for Ukraine of restoring its full control over its border,” Mr. Zelensky said. “I am sure that we will return to this at the Normandy summit in four months.”
Meeting in Brussels ahead of the Paris talks, European foreign ministers said the bloc would keep in place its sanctions on Russia until real progress was evident.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said resolving the Ukraine crisis was “a precondition for the relationship between the EU and Russia to improve,” adding, “So far, I see no reason to change anything about this decision.”
Write to Georgi Kantchev at georgi.kantchev@wsj.com and Noemie Bisserbe at noemie.bisserbe@wsj.com
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