FORMAT NORMANDIE AIMS TO ACHIEVE RESTORATION OF SECURITY IN UKRAINE

USPA NEWS - The French President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel held talks with President Porochenko to the latter's request to take stock of the situation in Ukraine. The President of the Republic recalled the consistent position of France on the illegal annexation of Crimea which could not be recognised.

The French President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel held talks today with President Porochenko to the latter's request to take stock of the situation in Ukraine. The President of the Republic recalled the consistent position of France on the illegal annexation of Crimea which could not be recognized. The President Hollande also stressed the need to continue discussions in the Normandy format in order to achieve a peaceful settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine that goes through the restoration of security, development implement a sustainable cease-fire and the holding of elections within the framework of Ukrainian law and respect for international standards. As the parties meet their commitments, all the Minsk Accords must be respected and implemented as soon as possible. The President of the Republic called to refrain from any escalation that would make this harder to achieve. In this context, he again marked the commitment of France and reiterated its readiness to meet again in the Normandy format.  ON JULY 13 PRESIDENT HOLLANDE AND ANGELA MERKEL SPOKE BY PHONE ON UKRAINE SITUATION WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel spoke by phone on Ukraine with Vladimir Putin in the morning of Wednesday 13 July. Faced with the firmness of Vladimir Putin, the conflict has stalled over the months. Since the annexation of Crimea to Russia in March 2014, the European Union and the United States adopted a series of economic and diplomatic sanctions to isolate Russia. In June 2016, the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg had again called on Russia to stop its support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and "withdraw its forces and military equipment" of the country. ON THE OTHER HAND PUTIN IS CONCERNED ABOUT HEAVY SHELLING IN DONBASS-------------------------------- According to Kremlin, President Putin is concerned about heavy shelling in Donbas launched by Ukrainian troops, On July 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin again held a telephone conversation with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This was announced by Russian leader's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, reports Russia's state-run news agency TASS.