European leaders to hold phone call on Ukraine peace deal

MOSCOW – Talks among the leaders of Russia, France and Germany on a peace initiative for Ukraine ended early today with an announcement that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart would discuss a proposal to end the fighting in a four-way telephone call this weekend.

The planned discussions Sunday involving Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the leaders of France and Germany came amid urgent shuttle diplomacy to halt the recent intensification of fighting in Ukraine and suggested that a cease-fire proposal was still on the table.

Even getting the arms to fall silent would be a significant diplomatic breakthrough. The resurgent fighting has fueled fears the conflict is threatening Europe’s overall security and has prompted the U.S. to consider giving lethal weapons to Ukraine, an option opposed by European nations.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande came to Moscow on Friday on the second leg of a hastily arranged trip to try to halt the spiraling conflict. They had met with Ukraine’s president the previous day in Kiev.

The contents of their proposal have not been revealed, but it is aimed at salvaging a peace plan agreed to in September in Minsk, Belarus.

Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said efforts were moving forward.

“Work is currently under way on drafting the text of a possible joint document on the implementation of the Minsk agreement, which would include the proposals made by the president of Ukraine and President Putin,” Peskov said after the talks in the Kremlin ended.

He said Merkel, Putin, Hollande and Poroshenko would hold discussions by telephone on Sunday.

In Washington, the meeting was viewed with skepticism.

“I’m not going to say it’s a positive sign that they’re listening,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said of Russia. “They’ve been listening. They just haven’t been acting.”