PRESS RELEASE

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Putin, Merkel, Hollande To Discuss Ukraine on Sidelines of G20 Meeting

Aug. 24, 2016 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President François Hollande spoke by phone yesterday, and agreed to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China next month.

"The three leaders agreed to maintain personal contacts over Ukraine, in particular, to hold a joint meeting on the sidelines of the September 4-5 summit of the Group of 20 in China,"

reports a Kremlin statement. The sides discussed

"issues of Ukraine’s internal crisis, including prospects for the continuation of the Minsk process, based on the synchronization of the political steps and measures in the sphere of security,"

the Kremlin said. The Russian President, German Chancellor, and French President emphasized

"the importance of the provision of a permanent legislative framework for the special status of Donbass, the constitutional reform and amnesty, the organization of local elections."

All these questions

"should be coordinated in the Contact Group [on the Ukrainian crisis resolution] where Kiev has the possibility to conduct a direct dialogue with the [self-proclaimed republics] of Donetsk and Lugansk".

During the conversation the leaders also

"expressed concern over the persisting instability along the conflict sides’ contact line and systematic violations of the ceasefire regime."