President Vladimir Putin's office said on Tuesday Putin, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande discussed Ukraine in a telephone call earlier in the day and condemned recent fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The conflict in Ukraine's industrial heartland between Russia-backed separatists and government troops has killed more than 9,500 people since it began in 2014. Despite 2015 peace accords signed in Minsk, Belarus, which initially helped to halt the fighting and then lower its intensity, international monitors have reported more clashes in the past weeks, some involving heavy weaponry.
Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine are parties to the Minsk accords. The three leaders will meet face-to-face in early September to discuss ways to deal with the crisis, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, but did not say whether Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko would be invited as well.
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