Despite the tough political situation between Russia and Ukraine, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko have maintained continuous contact, according to the newspaper Kommersant.

Citing sources in Kyiv and Moscow Kommersant reported that the two leaders have spoken on the phone four times since the beginning of the year.

The penultimate call was on February 11, the day after the President of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, visited Moscow. The most recent conversation took place on February 21, at the initiative of the Ukrainian side, and lasted about 20 minutes. However, these contacts are for obvious reasons not advertised; if they were reported on regularly, Ukrainian radical parties critical of the Ukrainian President would use the information to accuse Poroshenko of "collusion with the aggressor behind the backs of the people."

One of the issues on which Moscow and Kyiv continue to disagree is the question of resolving the situation in the Donbas. The situation in the region has once again intensified, this time because the authorities of the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR have instituted external control of enterprises subject to Ukrainian jurisdiction that have been operating on the territory of the Republics. These political actions are related to the ongoing railway blockade in the Donbas.

Earlier, it was reported that Poroshenko did not shake hands with Putin before a meeting of the Normandy Four in Berlin.

  Putin, Poroshenko, Donbas

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