LOC22:36
19:36 GMT
PARIS, Jan 18 (KUNA) -- French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday held a three-way telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to address the situations in Ukraine and Syria.
The conversation was a follow-up to the January 16 exchange between Hollande, Merkel and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko concerning the ongoing tensions in Eastern Ukraine and efforts to bring a lasting end to that conflict, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
Hollande "insisted on the need for the cease-fireآ…of December 24 to be implemented in a credible, total and lasting fashion" in a Ukraine.
He also urged that there be humanitarian gestures in the conflict such as the release of prisoners and the re-establishment of lasting water supplies in the area under dispute.
Hollande also broached the Syrian situation with Putin ahead of the forthcoming talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana, to try to advance peace, the Elysee stated.
The French leader said that the Astana meeting "must be a step towards the resumption of the Geneva negotiations under the aegis of the United Nations."
He also "underlined the need to respect the cease-fire (in Syria) and for full representation of the Syrian opposition in Astana" for the peace talks. (end)
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