Putin again imposed a “direct dialogue” between Ukraine and Russian mercenaries during a conversation with Merkel

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated the expediency of Ukraine’s direct dialogue with Russian collaborators in Donbas during a conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The telephone conversation between the two states heads took place at the instance of the German side.

In particular, the interlocutors continued to exchange opinions on the state of the situation in Donbas resolving. Merkel expressed concern about the lack of progress in the Minsk agreements implementation in 2015, as well as the “Quartet of Normandy” decisions, stemmed from the summit in Paris in 2019. She also stressed the importance of the negotiation process intensification in the Contact Group and the “Normandy format”.

The President of Russia reiterated the expediency of a direct dialogue establishing between Kyiv and Donetsk and Luhansk, aimed, in particular, at the coordinating steps to implement the Minsk package of measures.

Natalia Tolub