Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not discuss at their Sunday’s meeting the issue of gas supplies to Ukraine and Europe, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“The gas issue was not discussed,” Peskov told journalists.
Putin and Merkel agreed that the situation in Ukraine is degrading and spoke for the soonest possible resumption of work of the contact group.
“The leaders agreed that unfortunately the situation has a tendency for degradation,” Peskov said.
“Putin and Merkel noted the necessity of the soonest possible resumption of work of the contact group [on Ukraine], possibly in the format of a video conference,” Peskov said, adding that the leaders’ meeting was long, substantive.
Also Putin called inadmissible the actions of Ukraine’s armed forces as a result of which shells land in Russia.
"The leaders noted that the soonest possible announcement of cessation of fire, an exchange of captives and resumption of peaceful activity are necessary,” Peskov said.
“Putin expressed his extreme concern over the continuing actions on the part of the Ukrainian forces and emphasized that the situation when shells land on the territory of the Russian Federation, which leads to tragic cases like one in the Rostov Region, is absolutely unacceptable,” Peskov said.