Putin and Poroshenko make step forward in Milan

At the summit in Milan, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi after top level meeting in the "Norman format" with Presidents Putin and Poroshenko said: "I think we made ​​a step forward," although "there are differences."

"We can not agree upon the destabilization of Ukraine, but we need to involve Russia in international affairs. Russia's role can be very important in addressing the threats posed by Ebola, ISIL in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and other international crises," the Italian PM said.

"European countries are ready to cooperate for the implementation of border control in Ukraine with the use of drones. We have a new technology today," Renzi told reporters, adding that "we welcomed the proposal from President Francois Hollande to control the border between Russia and Ukraine, also in accordance with Minsk agreements."

Putin gave a positive assessment to the meeting with the participation of Ukrainian President Poroshenko. Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the talks on the Ukrainian crisis "are complicated, there is a lot of misunderstand, but the sides exchange opinions." According to him, several members of the meeting exercised unwillingness to understand the real state of affairs in the south-east of Ukraine. Yet, the meeting was constructive, Peskov said.

Earlier, during the meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin described gas issues with Ukraine in detail. "Yesterday, Putin gave a detailed explanation of the gas situation to Merkel. He took a pen and was writing numbers on paper, explaining the situation," TASS quoted Peskov as saying.