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Putin, Poroshenko Call For Quick End To Ukraine Bloodshed

June 06, 2014
by RFE/RL

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko have both called for a quick end to bloodshed in eastern Ukraine.

Putin and Poroshenko met briefly on the sidelines of D-Day anniversary events in France on June 6.

It was Putin's first meeting with Poroshenko since he was elected president of Ukraine on May 25.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two leaders also agreed that hostilities must be stopped by both sides -- the Ukrainian armed forces and the insurgents.

He said both also stressed that the crisis can only be solved through peaceful political means.

Peskov said Putin and Poroshenko held their brief conversation along with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Putin also held informal talks with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the D-Day ceremonies.

The White House said the conversation was informal and lasted 10-15 minutes.

Kremlin's Peskov said that Putin and Obama spoke briefly about the situation in eastern Ukraine.

He said the two leaders 'spoke for the need to end violence and fighting as quickly as possible.'

The events to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1944 landings of Allied troops in Normandy came amid a deep rift between Russia and Western nations over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

The events were preceded by intense diplomacy in the hope that the gathering of world leaders would lead to a thaw in tensions.

No formal meetings had been scheduled between either Putin and Obama, or Putin and Poroshenko on the margins of the events.

Obama and other Western leaders earlier called on Putin to open talks with Poroshenko, who is due to be inaugurated on June 7.

At a summit in Brussels this week, the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations also said they were prepared to impose further sanctions against Russia unless Moscow recognized the legitimacy of the Kyiv government and ended support for the separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-putin-poroshenko-call-end-bloodshed/25413089.html

Copyright (c) 2014. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.