The Normandy Format (), also known as the Normandy contact group or Normandy Four, was a grouping of states who met between 2014 and 2022 in an effort to resolve the war in Donbas and the wider

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. The four countries who make up the group—

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

—first met informally in 2014 during the 70th anniversary of D-Day celebrations in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, France. The group had a substantial role in mediating the Minsk agreements between 2014 and 2015 while further meetings in 2022 failed to deescalate rising tensions prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

History

The Normandy Format was predated by the Joint Geneva Statement (Agreement), signed by Ukraine, Russia, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in April 2014. As Paul D'Anieri writes, "In Russia’s interpretation, it committed the Ukrainian government to refraining from the use of force against the separatists. Second, it intervened in Ukraine’s constitutional process, where Russia strongly supported decentralization. Third, it dealt with the crisis as an internal Ukrainian conflict – Russia itself took on no obligations." The group, compared to the previous Geneva process, did not include the

. This development has been described by observers as being in Russia's favor and helped to "cleave off" Europe from the US. The format operated mainly through telephone calls between the leaders and foreign ministers, with meetings occasionally occurring between all four leaders. Normandy Format meetings at times included

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Meetings

Overview

# Château de Bénouville, Bénouville,

— 6 June 2014 #

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

— 16–17 October 2014 #

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and 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 status in Belarus and is the administra ...

— 11–12 February 2015 #

Élysée Palace The Élysée Palace (, ) is the official residence of the President of France, President of the French Republic in Paris. Completed in 1722, it was built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, a nobleman and army officer who had been appointed g ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France — 2 October 2015 #

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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

First meeting (June 2014)

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.

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

of Ukraine participated in these talks before his inauguration as President a day later. 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. This agreement, signed in September 2014, outlined several provisions for peace in the Donbas Region and

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

Second meeting (October 2014)

A meeting was held 16–17 October 2014 in Milan, Italy as part of the 10th Asia–Europe Meeting.

Third meeting (February 2015)

Following a continued break-down of relations in early 2015, the Normandy Format met during talks in

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.

Fourth meeting (October 2015)

A meeting of the Normandy Format was held on 2 October 2015 in Paris, France. The meeting lasted four hours and resulted in the participants agreed that elections in territories controlled by DPR and LPR should be held according to the rules set out by Minsk II . These elections were repeatedly postponed and ultimately held in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Fifth meeting (October 2016)

A meeting of the Normandy Format was held on 19 October 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Negotiations and talks were stalled from 2016 until autumn 2019, with Vladimir Putin refusing to participate in further talks after the meeting.

Sixth meeting (December 2019)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 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 an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

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

belongs to and who isn't in the Donbas region." On 18 July 2019, a "comprehensive" cease-fire was agreed with arbitration by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine. In early September 2019, French President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

and Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

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 is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

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, which took place on 9 December 2019 in Paris, France, when Putin and Zelenskyy met the first and only time until 2022.

7th meeting (January 2022)

A Normandy Format meeting between the four countries' representatives was held in Paris, France on 26 January 2022 in the context of the escalation of tensions on the Russo-Ukrainian border, 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 follow-up meeting was agreed upon to take place in Berlin a fortnight later.

8th meeting (February 2022)

A meeting was held in Berlin, Germany on 10 February 2022. No joint declaration was agreed upon at the conclusion of that nine-hour-long meeting, but the representatives planned to meet again in March. This would never occur as Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February. In April 2022, Zelenskyy announced that the Normandy Format was "destroyed" due to Russia's actions. France and Germany continue to be involved in peace negotiations between the two countries, while also providing support to Ukraine and 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. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

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

Angela Merkel,

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Vladimir Putin 12023 (cropped).jpg,

,
President Petro Poroshenko September 2014.jpg,

,
President

2017–2019

Emmanuel Macron (cropped).jpg,

,
President Angela Merkel Hamburg May 2014.jpg,

Angela Merkel,

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

,
President Petro Poroshenko February 2015.jpg,

,
President

2019–2021

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

,
President File:Angela Merkel 2019 cropped.jpg,

Angela Merkel,

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

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

Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
President

2021–2025

File:Эммануэль Макрон (52371529117).jpg,

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

Olaf Scholz,

File:Владимир_Путин_(17-04-2024).jpg,

,
President File:Boris_Johnson's_visit_to_Ukraine_in_occasion_of_the_possible_Russian_invasion_(14)_(cropped).jpg,

Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
President

2025–present

File:Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Ukraine (54508511872) (cropped).jpg,

,
President File:Screenshot at Bundestagswahl (cropped by LennBr).png,

Friedrich Merz Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (; ; born 11November 1955) is a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 6 May 2025. He has also served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since January 2022, leading the CDU/CSU ...

File:Meeting with Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov (2025-04-08) cropped and edited.jpg,

,
President File:Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2022.jpg,

Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
President

References

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

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational content-driven technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and maintains its headquarters at 1 ...

, url= https://www.reuters.com/world/political-advisers-hold-four-way-talks-ukraine-paris-2022-01-22 , access-date= 25 January 2022 , 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= 24 January 2022 , url-status=live {{cite news , title= Scholz, Macron say diplomacy can fix Ukraine-Russia standoff , date= 25 January 2022 , newspaper=

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

, url= https://www.dw.com/en/scholz-macron-say-diplomacy-can-fix-ukraine-russia-standoff/a-60549166 , access-date=25 January 2022 , 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= 25 January 2022 , 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 (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the po ...

, date = 26 January 2022 , 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 = 27 January 2022 , 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= 27 January 2022 , url-status=live {{cite journal , 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. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...

, date = 23 October 2015 , url = https://www.csis.org/analysis/impact-normandy-format-conflict-ukraine-four-leaders-three-cease-fires-and-two-summits , access-date = 4 February 2022 , 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= 27 January 2022 , url-status=live Russo-Ukrainian War 21st-century diplomatic conferences National security Russo-Ukrainian War peace process 2010s in politics 2010s 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 2022 endings

History

Meetings

Overview

First meeting (June 2014)

Second meeting (October 2014)

Third meeting (February 2015)

Fourth meeting (October 2015)

Fifth meeting (October 2016)

Sixth meeting (December 2019)

7th meeting (January 2022)

8th meeting (February 2022)

Country leaders

2014–2017

2017–2019

2019–2021

2021–2025

2025–present

See also

References