Hollande and Merkel arrange new round of talks with Putin and Poroshenko

• 19.12.2014, 9:53

French President Francois Hollande is counting on major progress in resolving the conflict in Ukraine before the end of this year.

Hollande said Thursday night after the EU summit in Brussels that another meeting of the parties to the conflict representatives in the form of the so-called contact group may be held Sunday or Monday, Liga reports.

According to Hollande, he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are going to hold new round of talks with President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko after that. "I prefer to see the way out of the crisis. It was decided not to increase the level of sanctions at the summit," he said.

French President pointed out that he sees the reason for optimism not only in the forthcoming negotiations, but also in progression of events in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.