Merkel and Putin talk about deploying blue helmets

berlin/moscow - Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the possible deployment of blue helmets in Eastern Ukraine. Both were agreed, according to the German government spokesman Steffen Seibert, that the Minsk agreement must be promptly and completely transformed into action to put an end to the conflict in the area.

The Kremlin said that Merkel and Putin have emphasized that there is no alternative to the Minsk peace plan. Stationing a UN peacekeeping force can contribute to implementation. Merkel will discuss this on Tuesday with the Ukrainian state chef Petro Poroshenko, who will be visiting Berlin. The ideas of Kiev and Moscow are quite different. Merkel and Putin are both of the opinion that the armistice should continue anyway, as well as the exchange of prisoners.

Developments in Syria also came up for discussion. Merkel strongly condemned the use of poison gas in Douma.

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