Ukraine's Russian-speaking president gives glimmer of hope to war-torn east

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds a news conference after meeting European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, Belgium, June 5, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

DONETSK/SLOVYANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - In one of his first acts as Ukrainian president, comedian-turned-politician Volodymyr Zelenskiy held out a symbolic olive branch to people in Ukraine's mostly Russian-speaking Donbass region, by switching from Ukrainian to Russian.

That gesture, during his inauguration in the Ukrainian parliament in May, sent a message of inclusion to people in the mainly separatist-controlled Donbass region. And for some, at least, it offers a faint glimmer of hope in a conflict that has claimed 13,000 lives and shows no sign of resolution.