Merkel calls for lasting Ukraine truce

In a telephone conference on Tuesday evening with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the French head of state, Francois Hollande, Merkel said a meeting of the Ukraine contact group countries was necessary to find a lasting solution to the Ukraine crisis.

In a statement released by the German government, the four leaders welcomed the latest truce in eastern Ukraine, now a week old, but they stressed the need for a comprehensive agreement.

Merkel and Hollande also emphasized that Russia and Ukraine needed to achieve these goals soon and that there wasn't much time to be lost anymore.

"The pre-requisites for progress in the implementation of this agreement is, according to common perception, a speedy meeting of the contact group consisting of Russia, the Ukraine as well as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has been repeatedly calling for talks," said the official statement released by Merkel's office.

Putin, Merkel, Hollande and Poroshenko also agreed that humanitarian assistance needed to be boosted for the crisis areas. Until now, Russia had been sending convoys of trucks which it officially declared as humanitarian aid for the affected areas.

mg/jr (AFP,dpa, Reuters)