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Ukrainian, French, German leaders discuss moves to make Minsk agreements viable

Pyotr Poroshenko, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande discussed the pullback of heavy armaments and the release of prisoners

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko and French President Francois Hollande Nikolay Nazarenko/Рress service of the Ukrainian president/TASS

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko and French President Francois Hollande

© Nikolay Nazarenko/Рress service of the Ukrainian president/TASS

KIEV, February 6. /TASS/. Discussing renewed fighting in the eastern Lugansk and Donetsk regions with the French and German leaders, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko came out for a peaceful settlement in Donbass, the press service of the Ukrainian president reported after five-hour talks late on Thursday.

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Putin, Merkel, Hollande to discuss new plan for Ukraine settlement

"The three leaders urged an immediate ceasefire," it said. "The parties supported a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and expressed hope that Russia was also interested in that," the report said.

The three leaders discussed the pullback of heavy armaments and the release of prisoners, as well as "possibilities for developing a dialogue in the Normandy format (Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France)," the press service said.

After a tripartite summit in Kiev on Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande visit Moscow on Friday to discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin their peace initiative to end the crisis in eastern Ukraine

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