KIEV, July 10. /TASS/. Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has held a phone conversation with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s President Francois Hollande, discussing implementation of the Minsk agreements on resolving the Donbas conflict, the Ukrainian presidential press service said on Friday.
The interlocutors have shared the same opinion that efforts should be stepped up so as to reach a lasting ceasefire and to pull back heavy weapons, the press service said.
"President Poroshenko has once again underlined the importance of de-escalation of the situation around Shyrokino and also spoke about the need to reach an agreement on withdrawal of weapons under 100mm calibre," the statement said.
"Merkel and Hollande recommended the constitutional reform should be pursued with an accent on peculiarities of self-rule for certain parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to be reflected in the draft constitution," it said.
Talks of the Normandy Four (Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine) leaders on the Ukrainian issue took place in the Belarusian capital Minsk on February 12. Simultaneously, regular talks of the Contact Group were held in Minsk on February 10-12.
The talks ended by adoption of a 13-point package of measures, which contained in particular a ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons, as well as measures on long-term political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, including enforcement of a special self-rule status for certain parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.