French President Francois Hollande has proposed a meeting of the leaders of Germany, Russia, and Ukraine later this month as a cease-fire appeared to be largely holding in eastern Ukraine.
Hollande told reporters on September 7 that the talks could take place in Paris before the United Nations' General Assembly opens on September 28 "so that we can evaluate the [peace] process, where it's at."
“There has been progress in the last few weeks, he said. “The cease-fire has almost been respected."
Fighting between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s east has claimed more than 6,500 people since April last year.
A truce agreement reached in Minsk in February has been regularly violated, but Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on September 5 that the deal had been observed for the first time for an entire week.
