Russia, Ukraine leaders Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky meet for 1st time

Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet face-to-face Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time, as the leaders hope to end a long standoff in the Donbas region.

The leaders were set to meet at Elysee Palace in Paris. The Kremlin said Putin will talk in bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel before a joint meeting with all four leaders.

For Zelensky, who has found himself intertwined unwittingly in the impeachment inquiry of U.S. President Donald Trump, the meeting is a chance for him to achieve a campaign promise to bring peace to eastern Ukraine.

Putin may have already scored an early victory by getting Zelensky to agree to pull back from three areas along the front line as a condition to start the talks, a concession that angered some supporters.

Zelensky said he wants "tangible" results, such as the release of Ukrainian prisoners and enforcing a cease-fire in the Donbas region.

"I want to understand exactly how many people we can return home and when," he said last week. "The second question is if there is a cease-fire, who is responsible for this."

"Since 2016 there was no dialogue, which means there was no opportunity to talk about ending the war."

There were some demonstrators on the street outside Elysee Palace involving protesters who opposed Putin's visit.