Hollande, Merkel urge Putin to back Ukraine peace talks
French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to back talks between Kiev and rebels in eastern Ukraine. New Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was ready for dialogue with some separatists.
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In a three-way telephone conversation, Hollande and Merkel "called on all sides in the conflict to cease hostilities and asked the Russian president to promote the resumption of negotiations," the French president's office said in a statement.
They took note of Putin’s call for “substantial dialogue” in response to Petroshenko’s peacen plan and declaration of a one-week ceasefire on Friday, the statement said.
"They also reiterated the importance of ensuring full control of the Russian-Ukrainian border in order to avoid infiltrations of equipment and armed men," it went on.
After taking part in a World War II commemoration ceremony on Sunday, Putin called on Poroshenko to guarantee the rights of Russian speakers in the east and pointed out that, despite the ceasefire call, hostilities had not finished.
Russia earlier called on Kiev to formally invite Russophone rebel leaders to proposed peace talks.
Poroshenko on Sunday said he was ready to talk to separatists not implicated in "murder and torture".
"But those who are planning to use peaceful negotiations only to buy time and regroup their forces must know that we have a detailed plan B,” he warned. “I am not
going to speak of it now because I believe that our peaceful plan will work out."
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