During phone conversation with Merkel Putin insists on direct dialogue between Kyiv and Donbas militants
On Tuesday, June 9, a telephone conversation took place between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin. They discussed the Donbas and negotiations in the "Normandy format”, as reported on the Kremlin's website.
It is noted that the conversation took place at the initiative of the German leader. Mekrel was concerned about the lack of progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the decisions of the December Normandy Four summit.
Putin and Merkel stressed the importance of intensifying negotiations within the Trilateral Contact Group and in the "Normandy format."
Putin again insisted on the expediency of "establishing a direct dialogue between Kyiv and Donetsk and Luhansk," in order to coordinate the consistent implementation of the "Minsk package of measures."
The German side has not yet published a report about Merkel's conversation with Putin.
The Ukrainian President’s administration invited to the Trilateral Contac Group four internally displaced persons from the Donbas: journalists Serhiy Garmash and Denis Kazansky, trauma doctor Konstantin Libster and lawyer Vadim Goran. Since June 9, they have been taking part in the Donbas talks as part of the Ukrainian delegation.