Kremlin Press Service: Telephone conversation with Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande and Petro Poroshenko

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation in the early hours of October 31 with Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, President of France Francois Hollande and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, to discuss matters related to the crisis in Ukraine.

The four leaders welcomed the agreements reached on conditions for Russian natural gas supplies and transit via Ukraine. This marks a big step forward in ensuring uninterrupted gas transit to Europe.

The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continued implementation of the Minsk agreements on settling the situation in southeast Ukraine. They noted the importance of the contact group’s work and stressed the need to comply in full with the ceasefire under OSCE monitoring.

Mr Putin said that Russia hopes to see the establishment of a substantive, lasting dialogue between the central government authorities in Ukraine and representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk, as this would unquestionably contribute to generally stabilising the situation.