(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) French, German and Ukrainian leaders on Wednesday held a three-way telephone conversation to review the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine and stress the need for a rapid political solution to the flaring conflict, Hollande's office said.
Pro-Russian militias were still refusing any compromise solution with Ukrainian authorities in Kiev, whose forces are battling the separatists to take back control of the eastern region, which is largely Russian speaking and has moral if not material support from Moscow.
President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Ukrainian leader Petro Porochenko to use restraint in combating the insurgents and to pay attention to spare civilian lives.
The French and German leaders also underlined the need to get a cease-fire in the region so a political solution can be brought forward and they stressed the necessary role for the Organisation for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), particularly in monitoring the Ukrainian-Russian border. There was also a call to free all hostages between held in the conflict.
A top OSCE delegation arrived in Paris Wednesday for talks with Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
Hollande and Merkel also reiterated their call on Russia to put pressure on the separatists and encourage them to come to the negotiating table and they again urged President Vladimir Putin to exercise control over his border with Ukraine.
A contact will be made with Putin in the coming days, Hollande's office said.
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