BERLIN (Sputnik) — Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany announced they will agree in the coming weeks on the parameters of upcoming local elections in contested areas in eastern Ukraine, spokesman for the German government said Wednesday.
"All sides agreed that…. in the coming weeks, an agreement on the timing and procedure of local elections in the affected areas [in eastern Ukraine] based on Ukrainian law and the standards of the OSCE should be reached," Steffen Seibert said.
"All parties welcomed the fact that the ceasefire agreed on September 1 and brokered by the Contact Group is still widely observed," the German Cabinet said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko discussed in a phone conference call the implementation of the Minsk peace accords.
"Putin once again emphasized the need to coordinate a fully-fledged direct dialogue between Kiev authorities and Donbass officials as soon as possible," the press service said in a statement.
The leaders also urged for a prompt signing of an agreement on withdrawal of tanks, artillery systems with a calibre under 100mm and mortars under 120mm from the entire length of the line of contact between Kiev-led forces and Donbass militia as an important step toward de-escalation of the conflict.
The Kremlin confirmed that a meeting of 'Normandy Four' foreign ministers to discuss the Ukrainian crisis will take place in Berlin on September 12.
