Poroshenko, Merkel, Hollande Discuss Implementation of Minsk Agreements

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande agreed on the need to intensify efforts to achieve a complete ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons in eastern Ukraine.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has held a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, discussing the implementation of the Minsk peace agreements in Ukraine's troubled Donbas region, Poroshenko's press service said Friday.

"The sides agreed on the need to intensify efforts to achieve a complete ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons," the press service said in a statement.

Poroshenko urged to agree on another round of arms pullout from the line of conflict. Under the February ceasefire deal, hammered out in the Belarusian capital Minsk, both warring parties were to remove heavy weapons with a caliber of over 100mm to create a buffer zone, while a new proposal suggests extending this requirement to smaller-caliber arms.

In their turn, the French and German leaders called on Ukraine to stick to the agreement with militias that requires Kiev to devolve more power to the southeastern regions.

"The French president and the German chancellor recommended to continue the constitutional reform initiated by the Ukrainian president for the decentralization of power in Ukraine, which is in accordance with the Minsk agreements," the statement reads.

The Minsk peace accord is a set of 13 steps outlined by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany in mid-February to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine that has killed over 6,500 people since its start in April 2014, according to UN estimates.