French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Sunday to back talks between Kiev and rebels in eastern Ukraine. 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.
The statement said Hollande and Merkel had “taken note” of Putin’s statements after Ukraine’s new Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko announced a unilateral week-long ceasefire on Friday.