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Kiev names four key issues for Ukraine at Normandy Four summit

The first issue is return of all detainees from Russia and Donbass, said Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Aleksei Danilov

KIEV, December 7. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky plans to focus on four key issues for Donbass at the Normandy Four summit in Paris, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Aleksei Danilov said on Saturday after the council’s closed-door meeting.

"The first issue is return of all detainees from Russia and Donbass. The second is to halt fire so that weapons won’t kill our service members. The third is to regain control over the border and finally, elections," he said on the Ukrainian television, underscoring that those four issues "are key for Ukraine at the Normandy Four talks."

On December 9, leaders of the Normandy Four group comprising Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France will hold a summit in Paris to look for solutions to the conflict in Donbass.

The first talks of the Normandy Four group took place in France in June 2014 amid commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the landing of allied troops in Normandy. Then the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany met for the first time to find a solution to the conflict in the southeast Ukrainian region of Donbass. Since then, the Normandy Four has held a series of phone talks and summit meetings, along with meetings of foreign ministers and other officials. The latest Normandy Four summit took place in Berlin in October 2016.