Putin, Merkel, Hollande urge Ukraine ceasefire

The leaders also hope the withdrawal of heavy weapons will occupy a central place on the agenda

Agence France-Presse

Published 1:03 AM, February 01, 2015

Updated 1:10 AM, February 01, 2015

WILL TALKS FAIL? Armed pro-Russian rebels ride a tank in downtown Donetsk, Ukraine, January 22, 2015. File photo by Alexander Ermochenko/EPA

MOSCOW, Russia – Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a three-way phone call Saturday, January 31 urging warring Ukrainian factions to agree a ceasefire at peace talks, the Kremlin said.

"The hope was expressed that the questions of an urgent ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons will occupy a central place on the agenda" of truce talks in Minsk, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and Europe on Saturday began peace talks in Minsk aimed at establishing a ceasefire between pro-Russian separatists and Kiev as fighting spreads along the frontline.

Former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma, the OSCE's Heidi Tagliavini, and separatist representatives Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego, as well as Russian ambassador to Kiev Mikhail Zurabov, were participating in the talks. – Rappler.com