FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia November 26, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to prepare for a four-way summit in Paris next month, Zelenskiy’s office said in a statement on Thursday.

The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany meet in the so-called “Normandy” format on Dec. 9, to help end a conflict between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 13,000 people.