Putin, Obama Discuss Ukraine Crisis

Local Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed proposals for peace in Ukraine with US President Barack Obama by phone on Monday, with Putin underlining that it is necessary to "effectively end fighting and start direct talks between the conflicting parties" in order to normalize the situation in Ukraine.

Putin welcomed Poroshenko's declaration of a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, but added it can only be viable if the Ukrainian government sits down for talks with insurgents, who have declared their border regions independent and fought government troops for two months.

Furthermore, Obama urged Putin to support peace in Ukraine and said Moscow would face further "costs" if it did not take steps to reduce tensions in the country, the White House said.

Meanwhile, the representatives of Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic [DPR] and Russia have begun multilateral talks at the Donetsk regional state administration.

Poroshenko's office said a "trilateral contact group" representing Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was due to meet on Monday to ponder guidelines for implementing Poroshenko's plan for settling the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.

On Wednesday, negotiations on Ukraine between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany are scheduled to take place in Normandy.

Sources: News Agencies, Edited by website team