You're reading: Lavrov, Fabius claim Ukraine ceasefire a priority

MOSCOW - The Russian and French foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Laurent Fabius, spoke by telephone to exchange their views on the need to support the efforts to create conditions for transition to a political resolution in the South-East of Ukraine.

 “A hope was expressed that the proposals for the warring sides, formulated by the Russian president on September 3, will help work out a generally-acceptable platform for the productive work of the Contact Group with participation of the Ukrainian sides, the Russian Federation and the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) at the meeting due to be held in Minsk on Sept. 5,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website on Sept. 4.

“The ministers particularly underlined the priority of reaching a ceasefire deal immediately, primarily, the use of heavy weaponry and aviation,” the ministry said.

According to both ministers, “at this crucial stage, it is of paramount importance to counter attempts to undermine the first signs of the progress in implementing the approaches that were discussed by the presidents of Russia and Ukraine and to prevent advocates of a military solution to the problems in the South-East of Ukraine from dominating in Kyiv and other capitals.”

“Both sides noted the support for the efforts undertaken in recent days, including the Customs Union-Ukraine-European Union meeting held in Minsk on Aug. 26 and the direct contacts between President Putin and President Poroshenko,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry, adding that the ministers agreed to continue telephone talks over these issues.