Putin called Merkel and Hollande trying to absolve himself of responsibility for the bloodshed in Donbass
Russian President Vladimir Putin once again accused Ukraine of escalating the conflict in Donbass during a telephone conversation with French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It was reported by theKremlin press service.
According to Putin, Ukrainian troops allegedly fired at the settlements of Donbass. President "stressed no alternative to a political and diplomatic settlement of the internal Ukrainian conflict in accordance with the provisions of the Minsk Set of Measures".
As reported earlier, the RF regularly sends weapons, equipment and manpower to Donbass. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine repeatedly stated death of Russian mercenaries in Donbass. The international community repeatedly urged the Russian Federation to fulfill the Minsk Agreements.
The Kremlin website does not say whose initiative it was to hold the second negotiations today. Earlier, on July 8th, 2016 Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande conducted telephone conversations, during which they discussed the need to intensify negotiations in various formats for the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements.