Ukrainian President seeks peace with Russian Separatists, faces protests

Yesterday, thousands in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, turned out to protest plans to hold elections in the eastern part of the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was elected earlier this year, in part for his pledge to end the five-year conflict there with Russian-backed separatists that has killed more than 13,000 people.

Last week, Zelenskiy’s gov signed a deal with Russia to hold elections in the rebel-held east and potentially give the region special status.

Zelenskiy has cast the deal as an intermediate step needed to organize a summit with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany to push for a peaceful settlement.

Protesters see this as Zelenskiy giving in too much to Russia, calling it a capitulation, but Zelenskiy strongly defended a plan for an election in the east, vowing that the vote will follow Ukrainian laws and include candidates from Ukrainian political parties.

He emphasized that the election should be preceded by a lasting cease-fire and an exchange of all prisoners.