MOSCOW, September 15 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a telephone conversation expressed their concern about the cases of ceasefire breach in Donbas, according to a statement on Poroshenko's website.
"The sides expressed their concern about the cases of ceasefire breach in Donbas and agreed to continue their work on peaceful settlement of the situation," the statement on the website said.
On September 5, the Contact Group on Ukraine, comprising the representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), had a meeting in the Belarusian capital of Minsk where the parties, among other things, agreed to a ceasefire between the Kiev-backed forces and independence supporters in the southeast of Ukraine.
Since the announcement of the ceasefire, the sides have accused each other of violating the agreement. Late on September 14, an OSCE representative told RIA Novosti that a team of five OSCE observers monitoring the ceasefire had come under fire near the city of Donetsk. None of them was hurt.
A confrontation in eastern Ukraine had been going on since mid-April, when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters who refused to acknowledge the new government that was instated after the February 22 coup. According to the United Nations, about 3,000 people have been killed and more than 6,000 injured since the start of the conflict.
