"Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault today held a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. He confirmed France's readiness to continue frank dialogue with Russia," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadale said.
A statement on the Russian Foreign Ministry website pointed out that Paris initiated the phone call. Lavrov and Ayrault discussed the situation in Syria and the task of implementing the Minsk set of measures to settle the Ukrainian crisis, it added.
"Ayrault stressed the need to break the current impasse and to achieve a halt to the bombings in Aleppo to deliver humanitarian aid and allow the resumption of negotiations for political settlement," Nadale said, adding that the sides exchanged views on Ukraine.
