Moscow - The sharp escalation of the Ukrainian conflict brings Ukraine to the verge of a civil war, Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel on the phone.
The German side initiated the telephone conversation, the Kremlin press service said. Putin and Merkel “exchanged opinions about the anti-constitutional course of the incumbent Kyiv authorities towards the suppression by force of popular protests in southeastern Ukraine,” the presidential press service said.
“The Russian president pointed out that the sharp escalation of the conflict had actually brought the country to the verge of a civil war,” the report runs.
The leaders of Russia and Germany accentuated the importance of the quadripartite negotiations between Russia, the European Union, the United States and Ukraine planned for April 17.
“They expressed the hope that the Geneva meeting would be able to send a strong message, which would help the events take a peaceful route,” the presidential press service said.
“The Russian president also reminded about the importance of solving problems of the Ukrainian economic stabilization and the provision of deliveries and transit of Russian natural gas to Europe he had raised in his message to the leaders of a number of European countries on April 10, 2014,” it said.
