BERLIN (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian president's press service announced that Merkel and Poroshenko discussed plans for a meeting of foreign ministers of the Normandy Four format in late November.
"I can confirm that a telephone conversation has been held today between the German chancellor and the Ukrainian president Poroshenko. The conversation was about the implementation of the Minsk agreements and a preparation of the ‘road map’," a representative of the press service told RIA Novosti.
In April 2014, Kiev authorities launched a military operation against militia in Donbas. In February 2015, the two sides reached a ceasefire deal after talks brokered by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine — the Normandy format — in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
The Minsk agreements call for Kiev to afford local autonomy in eastern Ukraine, including special status to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics. The deal also stipulates a full ceasefire, withdrawing weapons from the line of contact, and an all-for-all prisoner exchange.