Mogherini Talks With Lavrov, Calls for End of Fighting in Eastern Ukraine

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has called for an end of the recently escalated fighting in southeastern Ukraine during phone talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the EU External Action service said in a statement.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Lavrov and Mogherini agreed to hold a bilateral meeting "on the sidelines of an upcoming multilateral event" to discuss global and regional problems, as well as EU-Russia relations.

"Mogherini and Lavrov spoke at length about the escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine. HRVP stressed the need to stop fighting immediately, and to work for a full implementation of the Minsk agreements. They agreed to meet in the coming weeks," the Friday statement says.

The situation in southeastern Ukraine has escalated over the past few days, in particular near the town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, where clashes between Kiev forces and the militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have intensified. The conflicting parties have both accused each other of initiating the violence.

A spokesperson of DPR’s Office of Ombudsman said on Friday that over 30 people have been killed and more than 80 others, including 47 civilians, have been injured in the republic as a result of violence this year.