Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky discuss Ukraine solution as ceasefire begins
- More than 13,000 have been killed in fighting between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists since Moscow’s annexation of Crimean peninsula in 2014
- Ceasefire is considered important prerequisite for new Ukrainian crisis summit
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday welcomed efforts to resolve Ukraine’s conflict with Kremlin-backed separatists during a phone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin shortly before a ceasefire went into force on Monday.
Moscow and Kiev agreed to implement a ceasefire in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass during negotiations earlier this month, as a precondition for a broader settlement agreed in the capital of Belarus in 2015.
Ukraine has been fighting separatists backed by Russia in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions since 2014 following Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula.
More than 13,000 people have been killed since fighting broke out in 2014, despite the peace accords signed in Minsk.
Both Putin and Zelensky “welcomed the agreement on a full and comprehensive ceasefire in the Donbass”, a statement from the Ukrainian presidency said.
The Kremlin meanwhile underscored the importance of the “unconditional observance of these agreements by the parties to the conflict”.