The two leaders discussed crisis settlement in southeastern Ukraine taking into consideration the meetings of the Normandy Four (Russia, Germany, Ukraine and France) foreign ministers and consultations among aides to the Normandy Four leaders.
The Russian President reaffirmed that there was no alternative to the 2015 Package of Measures as the foundation of a political settlement of the domestic Ukrainian conflict and noted the importance of stepping up negotiating efforts as part of the Minsk Contact Group and in the Normandy Four format.
Vladimir Putin expressed his concern over the escalation in Donbass and the growing number of civilian casualties after the shelling of the region by Ukrainian armed forces increased in frequency.
The leaders exchanged views on the Russian initiative to set up a UN mission to facilitate the protection of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
They also raised the issues of exchanging detainees and visits by human rights commissioners from both countries to Russian citizens detained in Ukraine and Ukrainians detained in Russia.