Thousands joined a December 8 rally in Kyiv to demand a tough stance on Russia ahead of peace talks in Paris that seek an end to the five-year war between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for the first time on December 9 in Paris. Opposition politicians, including former President Petro Poroshenko, addressed the crowd on Kyiv's central Independence Square.