MOSCOW, January 25 (Sputnik) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry in a phone conversation called for immediate ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and withdrawal of heavy weapons from the areas of fighting, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
"[Lavrov and Kerry] called for immediate cessation of shelling in Donbas and withdrawal of heavy weapons. Russia and the United States reaffirmed their readiness to assist the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," the statement read.
The Kiev troops and the independence supporters of eastern Ukraine have been clashing since April 2014.
In September 2014, the warring sides came to a ceasefire agreement in Minsk, but have since accused each other of repeated truce violations, with the fighting intensifying sharply again in January.
On Saturday, the southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol was shelled, with the Kiev forces and Donbas militia trading blame for the attack. According to Kiev estimates, 30 people have been killed and 92 injured.
