The Normandy Format (french: Format Normandie), also known as the Normandy contact group, is a grouping of states who met in an effort to resolve the

War in Donbas War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regula ...

and the wider

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...

. The four countries who make up the group—

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

, and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

—first met informally during the 70th anniversary of D-Day celebrations in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, France.

Creation and composition

The group was created on 6 June 2014, when leaders from France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine met on the margins of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day allied landings in Normandy. It operates mainly through telephone calls between the leaders and their respective ministers of foreign affairs. The Normandy Format has at times been expanded to include

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Meetings

2014

Early talks in 2014 led to the establishment of the Trilateral Contact Group in order to facilitate further talks between Russia and Ukraine. This, along with mediation through the Normandy Format, directly led to the establishment of

Minsk Protocol The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements which sought to end the Donbas war fought between armed Russian separatist groups and Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Russian regular forces playing a central part. The first, know ...

. This agreement, signed in September 2014, outlined several provisions for peace in the

Donbas Region The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, wikt:Донбас, Донба́с ; russian: wikt:Донбасс, Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist ...

and

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

2015

Following a continued break-down of relations in early 2015, the Normandy Format met during talks in Belarus from 11 to 12 February 2015. This was precipitated by a joint French-Germany diplomatic plan, which was negotiated overnight for over sixteen hours while the group met in Minsk. The emerging package, Minsk II, negotiated ceasefires as well as planned domestic reforms in Ukraine. Negotiations and talks were stalled from 2016 until autumn 2019.

2019

Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

y, in his May 2019 inaugural address made peace talks with Russia his top priority. He reaffirmed that priority in July that year when he invited via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

the other nations to a dialogue. He said: "Let's discuss who

belongs to and who isn't in the

Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

region." On 18 July 2019, a "comprehensive" cease-fire was agreed with arbitration by the

Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine (also known as the Trilateral Contact Group for the peaceful settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine) is a group of representatives from Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and the Organization for Secur ...

. In early September 2019, French President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017 French presidential election, 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, M ...

and Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime m ...

stated their intention to hold a Normandy format meeting. On 21 September, "continuing bickering" was cited as causing "a political tug-of-war" over the preliminaries to negotiations, as they had been since the Normandy Format meeting in 2016 in Berlin. Also in late September, a phone call between US President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

and Zelenskyy in which the latter described the support of France and Germany as lukewarm damaged Zelenskyy's image in Europe. On 10 October, Zelenskyy repeated his statement in a public news conference. On 16 October, French and German leaders decided in favour of another Normandy Format meeting.

2022

A Normandy Format meeting between the four countries' representatives was held in Paris on 26 January 2022 in the context of the lead-up to the

2022 invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

by Russia, to be followed by a telephone conversation between the French and Russian presidents on 28 January. The representatives of the four governments confirmed their support for Minsk II and committed themselves to resolving existing disagreements. They supported an unconditional ceasefire, and supported strengthening of the 22 July 2020 ceasefire, independent of their disagreements about implementing other components of Minsk II. A followup meeting was planned to take place in Berlin a fortnight later. No joint declaration was agreed upon at the conclusion of the nine-hour-long Normandy Format meeting held on 10 February, but the representatives planned to meet again in March. This meeting never occurred following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Zelenskyy later announced that the Normandy Format was "destroyed" due to Russia's actions. France and Germany continue to be involved in peace-talks between the two countries, while also providing support to Ukraine while denouncing Russia.

Country leaders

2014–2017

François Hollande - 2017 (27869823159) (cropped 2).jpg,

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle f ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Angela Merkel Juli 2010 - 3zu4 (cropped 2).jpg,

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Op ...

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Vladimir Putin 12023 (cropped).jpg,

Petro Poroshenko September 2014.jpg,

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...

2017–2019

Emmanuel Macron (cropped).jpg,

Angela Merkel Hamburg May 2014.jpg,

Vladimir Putin (2017-07-08) (cropped).jpg,

Petro Poroshenko February 2015.jpg,

2019–2021

File:-G7Biarritz (48616645011) (cropped).jpg,

File:Angela Merkel 2019 cropped.jpg,

File:Vladimir Putin (2018-03-01) 03 (cropped).jpg,

File:Volodymyr Zelensky Official portrait (cropped).jpg,

2021–present

File:Emmanuel Macron June 2021 (cropped).jpg,

File:Sánchez se reunió con el nuevo canciller alemán Olaf Scholz en La Moncloa 20220117 (8) (cropped).jpg,

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born ) is a German politician who has served as the chancellor of Germany since 8 December 2021. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice Chancellor under Angela Merkel and as Federal Minister ...

File:Vladimir Putin 17-11-2021 (cropped).jpg,

File:All-Ukrainian Forum "Ukraine 30. Coronavirus Challenges and Responses". (50922061211) (cropped).jpg,

Meetings

The first six meetings were held from 2014 to 2019. # Château de Bénouville, Bénouville,

— 6 June 2014 — the first meeting in celebration of the 70th anniversary of

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

— 16–17 October 2014 — as part of

Asia–Europe Meeting The Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an Asian–European political dialogue forum to enhance relations and various forms of cooperation between its partners. It was officially established on 1 March 1996 at the 1st ASEM Summit (ASEM1) in Bangk ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

— 11–12 February 2015 —

Minsk II The Minsk agreements were a series of international agreements which sought to end the Donbas war fought between armed Russian separatist groups and Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Russian regular forces playing a central part. The first, known ...

was signed #

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, France — 2 October 2015 #

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

— 19 October 2016 # Paris, France — 9 December 2019 # Paris, France — 26 January 2022 # Berlin, Germany — 10 February 2022

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , title= Political advisers to hold four-way talks on Ukraine in Paris , date= 2022-01-22 , newspaper=

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corp ...

, url= https://www.reuters.com/world/political-advisers-hold-four-way-talks-ukraine-paris-2022-01-22 , access-date= 2022-01-25 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220124122214/https://www.reuters.com/world/political-advisers-hold-four-way-talks-ukraine-paris-2022-01-22 , archive-date= 2022-01-24 , url-status=live {{cite news , title= Scholz, Macron say diplomacy can fix Ukraine-Russia standoff , date= 2022-01-25 , newspaper= Deutsche Welle , url= https://www.dw.com/en/scholz-macron-say-diplomacy-can-fix-ukraine-russia-standoff/a-60549166 , access-date=2022-01-25 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220125205354/https://www.dw.com/en/scholz-macron-say-diplomacy-can-fix-ukraine-russia-standoff/a-60549166 , archive-date= 2022-01-25 , url-status=live {{cite web , title= Declaration of the advisors to the N4 Heads of States and Governments , website=

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

, date = 2022-01-26 , url = https://www.elysee.fr/en/emmanuel-macron/2022/01/26/declaration-of-the-advisors-to-the-n4-heads-of-states-and-governments , access-date = 2022-01-27 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220127023902/https://www.elysee.fr/en/emmanuel-macron/2022/01/26/declaration-of-the-advisors-to-the-n4-heads-of-states-and-governments , archive-date= 2022-01-27 , url-status=live {{cite web , last1 = de Galbert , first1 = Simond , title= The Impact of the Normandy Format on the Conflict in Ukraine: Four Leaders, Three Cease-fires, and Two Summits , website=

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts poli ...

, date = 2015-10-23 , url = https://www.csis.org/analysis/impact-normandy-format-conflict-ukraine-four-leaders-three-cease-fires-and-two-summits , access-date = 2022-02-04 , archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220127025345/https://www.csis.org/analysis/impact-normandy-format-conflict-ukraine-four-leaders-three-cease-fires-and-two-summits , archive-date= 2022-01-27 , url-status=live Russo-Ukrainian War 21st-century diplomatic conferences National security 2014 in politics 2015 in politics 2016 in politics 2014 in international relations 2015 in international relations 2016 in international relations Foreign relations of Russia Foreign relations of Ukraine Foreign relations of France Foreign relations of Germany François Hollande Angela Merkel Emmanuel Macron Vladimir Putin Russia–Ukraine relations Petro Poroshenko Volodymyr Zelenskyy 2014 introductions

Creation and composition

Meetings

2014

2015

2019

2022

Country leaders

2014–2017

2017–2019

2019–2021

2021–present

Meetings

See also

References