Paris, July 3 (IANS): French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to do more to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine.
During a phone conversation with a top Moscow official, the two European leaders stressed "the importance of implementing a deal reached in Berlin Wednesday between the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine in order to achieve a bilateral ceasefire", Xinhua reported.
In a communique issued by the French presidency, Hollande and Merkel asked Putin to back a meeting of the contact group before July 5 to outline conditions for the ceasefire.
To this effect, they asked President Putin to intervene to encourage negotiations in order to reach an agreement in Ukraine, according to the statement.
Hollande and Merkel were scheduled to hold phone talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko later in the day, it added.