Putin meets with Merkel and Poroshenko

Source: Beta

MILAN -- Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Milan with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

(Beta/AP, file)

Putin and Merkel stated that there are still serious differences in their opinions regarding the Ukrainian crisis.
Shortly afterwards, the Russian president spoke with the Ukrainian counterpart during a meeting attended by Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Prime Minister of Italy Mateo Renzi.

"There are serious disagreements about the evaluation of the internal conflict in Ukraine, and about the deep causes of what is happening there now," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Putin late last night met with Merkel, after arriving to the Euro-Asian summit from Belgrade.

"During this long and detailed conversation (two and a half hours) Putin and Merkel carefully checked the implementation of the agreement signed in Minsk," said Peskov.

The agreement was signed on September 5 establishing a cease-fire in the east of Ukraine between separatists and forces loyal to Kiev, and is being broken on a regular basis.

Merkel last night also spoke with Poroshenko when, according to a source close to the Ukrainian government, they "expressed regret that a number points of the agreement has not been implemented, although they were accepted by both sides."