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Poroshenko, Merkel urge Normandy Quartet to hold early meeting on Donbas

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged all the sides in the Donbas conflict to exert efforts to prevent the situation from deteriorating

Angela Merkel and Petro Poroshenko ITAR-TASS/Mykhailo Markiv

Angela Merkel and Petro Poroshenko

© ITAR-TASS/Mykhailo Markiv

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Putin, Security Council members discuss Ukraine, possible Normandy format meeting

KIEV, January 16 /TASS/. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a telephone conversation on Friday that the Contact Group for the Donbas settlement should gather for a meeting as soon as possible. They also urged the foreign ministers of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine to meet in the “Normandy format,” the Ukrainian president’s press service said.

Poroshenko and Merkel discussed the current situation in Ukraine’s Donbas region. They stressed the need to de-escalate tensions and called on the militias to cease the fire immediately.

“Retreat to the disengagement line; border closure, the withdrawal of military hardware; hostage release and reaction to the worsening humanitarian situation should be the key preconditions for a further peaceful settlement,” the presidential press service went on to say.

Poroshenko and Merkel urged all the sides in the Donbas conflict to exert efforts to prevent the situation from deteriorating.

The Ukrainian president and the German leader also discussed macro-financial assistance to Ukraine and ways of stabilizing the internal economic situation in the country.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine Angela Merkel Germany Pyotr Poroshenko

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