Poroshenko, Merkel call for prompt meeting of Trilateral Contact Group
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a prompt meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group supporting peace in eastern Ukraine in a telephone conversation on Friday.
"Poroshenko and Merkel agreed with the need for the soonest meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group and a subsequent meeting of foreign ministers in the "Normandy format" for the sake of further negotiations at summit level," the Ukrainian president's press service reported.
They also conferred on the Donbas situation. "Keynote perquisites of further peace process should be an agreement on the demarcation line, the border closure, the pullback of military hardware, the release of hostages and the response to the aggravating humanitarian situation. That would create necessary conditions for the political dialogue," the Poroshenko press service stated.
In addition, the president and the chancellor discussed macroeconomic support to economic stabilization in Ukraine.
The Contact Group fostering the peace process in Ukraine meets in the "Russia-Ukraine-OSCE" format. The Minsk negotiations involve Russian Ambassador in Kyiv Mikhail Zurabov, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and OSCE envoy Heidi Tagliavini, as well as representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics.
