(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped Saturday a breakthrough would take place in the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, but noted that parties of the conflict failed to abide by the Minsk ceasefire agreement.
The Minsk agreement, signed in the capital of Belarus, is not being fully implemented by the authorities in Kiev nor the representatives of eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk, Putin said in a statement following his summit talks with French President Francois Hollande in Moscow.
"There is hope for a breakthrough," said Putin who added that Moscow and Paris sought immediate cessation of bloodshed in Ukraine.
He hoped the Ukrainian authorities lift the boycott of the eastern provinces. "Russia supports unity of the Ukrainian territories but the boycott would endanger this approach," he added.
Putin said he and Hollande did not discuss the delivery of the French airplane carrier to Russia.
"We believe that this agreement should be implemented. However if it's not implemented we will not file law suits against France but hope in this case that they (the French) return the sums of money we have paid for this deal," said Putin.
He thanked Hollande for his short visit to Moscow, saying it was an opportunity to discuss many international issues of mutual interest, like the Syrian crisis and Iranian nuclear program.
Hollande, for his part, called on the need of removing all "hurdles and walls separating Russia and the West."
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