Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko agreed in a phone conversation Monday to continue dialogue aimed at ending the conflict in east Ukraine, the Kremlin said. During the phone call the two leaders discussed "steps to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the situation in south-east Ukraine. The dialogue will be continued," the Kremlin press office said in a statement, without giving more details.
A spokesman for Poroshenko told AFP that the Ukrainian leader had spoken to Putin during a symbolic visit to the flashpoint eastern city of Mariupol in east Ukraine. "During the conversation the two sides continued the co-ordination of actions to support the cease-fire," the Ukrainian presidency said in a statement. The talk - the latest in a flurry of telephone diplomacy between the two heads of state - comes as a shaky three-day cease-fire between government forces and pro-Moscow rebels continues to hold despite sporadic fighting. The truce deal between Kiev and the insurgents - whom the West says are backed by Russian troops - was signed Friday after Putin and Poroshenko hammered out a compromise aimed at ending five months of brutal fighting.