Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said progress on resolving the Ukraine crisis was "insufficient" after a 45-minute telephone conversation Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a source close to the French president.

"The chancellor and the president (Hollande) raised the need to put pressure on the various parties" given that progress is "insufficient," the source said, a day before foreign ministers from Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany hold talks in Paris on the crisis.