Protests In Kyiv After Ukraine's President Signs Formula For Peace Plan

Crowds gathered in central Kyiv to protest Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's signing of a formula for a peace plan for parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists. They held a rally outside presidential offices on October 2, chanting "Zelenskiy out!" and "No capitulation." A day earlier, Zelenskiy signed on to the so-called Steinmeier Formula -- meant to reinvigorate peace talks with Russia over the war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. The plan is named after German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who proposed it in 2016 when he was Germany's foreign minister. It would, among other provisions, allow special local elections in the separatist-controlled provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Russia has welcomed the move by Zelenskiy, who took office in May promising to bring peace, but Ukrainian opposition parties have called it a capitulation to Moscow.