MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Putin urged Hollande and Merkel to influence Ukrainian authorities to implement the Minsk peace agreements.
"Vladimir Putin drew attention to the provocative actions of Ukrainian forces in the southeast [of Ukraine]. In this regard, the Russian president called on the interlocutors to more actively influence the Ukrainian side, including during upcoming contacts with [Ukrainian President] Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw, to ensure a clear implementation of the Minsk agreements," the press service said following a phone talk between the three leaders.
Putin, Merkel and Hollande noted the need to intensify talks in various formats to promote the implementation of the Minsk peace deals, and agreed to continue consultations on the Ukraine issue on various levels, according to the Kremlin.
In February 2015, a peace agreement was signed between Ukraine’s conflicting sides in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, after talks of the Normandy Four countries, comprising Russia, Germany, Ukraine and France. The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, an all-for-all prisoner exchange and constitutional reforms, which would give a special status to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics.
Both sides of the conflict, however, are constantly accusing each other of violations of the ceasefire.
