News   /   Russia

Russia hosts trilateral talks with Germany, France over Ukraine crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives in Moscow to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the crisis in Ukraine, February 6, 2015. © AFP

The leaders of Germany, France and Russia have started their negotiations in the Russian capital city of Moscow in a bid to find a way to end the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The talks are taking place “eye to eye” between Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande without the presence of the leaders’ aides, said Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov, on Friday.

The meeting came a day after Merkel and Hollande held talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Kiev for a peaceful solution to the surging conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, Merkel said it is of prime importance to restore peace to eastern Ukraine as instability in the restive region will affect the whole European continent.

Before leaving Paris for Moscow, President Hollande said, “Everyone is aware that the first step must be the ceasefire, but that it cannot suffice. We must seek a global solution.”

More than 5,300 people have died in the past months of conflict in Ukraine’s eastern regions, mainly Donetsk and Lugansk, the UN says. The fighting, which began in mid-April 2014 and intensified in May, has also displaced 1.5 million people.

FNR/HSN/SS

 


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku