French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to “rapidly” implement measures agreed under the Minsk cease-fire agreement.
Eastern Ukraine continues to be embroiled in sporadic fighting between government forces and Russian-backed separatists despite the truce agreement signed in February.
The French presidency said Hollande and Merkel spoke on the phone with Putin on May 29 and told him they want to see “concrete results” from four working groups that were set up this month to deal with political, security, economic, and humanitarian issues.
It added that diplomats and officials from the four countries are to meet in Paris on June 10 to review progress in the Minsk process.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Putin expressed concern in the call over "increasingly frequent shelling by Ukrainian forces of civilian objects that have led to civilian casualties."