Putin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov unveiled a few details about the recent telephone conversation between President Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko.
Putin and Poroshenko talked on the phone on February 12. The conversation was reportedly devoted to "efforts to exchange captive border guards and release Ukrainian soldiers in the occupied territories," Ukrainian media said. The conversation took place on the third anniversary of the conclusion of Minsk-2 agreements.
"Indeed, the day before yesterday [February 12], there was a telephone conversation between Poroshenko and Putin," said Peskov. The conversation, he said, took place on the initiative of the Ukrainian side. "Poroshenko expressed his condolences in connection with the Russian air crash (the crash of the An-148 passenger airliner near Moscow, which killed 71 people. - ed.)," Peskov added noting that during the talks, the president of Ukraine expressed the wish to help Russia investigate the tragedy on the line of the Ukrainian manufacturer.
The An-148 passenger aircraft is developed by Antonov Design Bureau. Last year, Russia decided to withdraw from the joint project with Ukraine.
In addition, Poroshenko offered to continue the subject of exchange of prisoners of war between the parties to the conflict in the Donbass, Peskov said, stressing that the parties "once again emphasised the need to strictly implement the Minsk agreements."
Putin and Poroshenko last spoke on the phone in late July 2017. The conversation was held within the framework of the Norman Quartet. During those talks, Poroshenko said that "the last days of July [2017] became one of the bloodiest days for Ukraine." He demanded Moscow should "immediately stop aggressive actions and cease arms supplies" to the territory of the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Pravda.Ru
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