Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday demanded Russia's Vladimir Putin halt arms supplies to rebels as the leaders of France and Germany tried to revive a peace plan.

After a spike in violence, the four leaders discussed the Ukraine crisis for two hours by telephone in the latest round of talks aimed at stilling a conflict that has killed 10,000 people since April 2014.

The conversation was the first to involve French President Emmanuel Macron since he came to power in May, becoming the main international moderator on the crisis along with Germany's Angela Merkel.

Last week saw some of the costliest clashes in months between Russian-backed rebels and government troops, after an insurgent leader announced plans to form a new "state" to replace Ukraine.

Poroshenko called the last days of July some of the bloodiest in 2017 and urged Russia "to immediately cease aggressive actions and supply of weapons to the occupied territories," Ukraine's presidency said in a statement after the talks.

Kiev and its allies in the West insist the Kremlin has sent troops and arms to back up the rebels, but Moscow continues to deny evidence of its role in the conflict.

In a statement the Kremlin said Putin "laid out Russia's approach on all the key points of the said agreement in great detail."

A February 2015 peace plan hammered out by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in the Belarusian capital Minsk has failed to stop clashes rumbling on in east Ukraine.

And although the deal has hit a wall it is still viewed by those involved as the only way of unwinding Ukraine's war.

Last week rebel chief Alexander Zakharchenko said he wanted to establish a new state called Malorossiya (Little Russia) on the basis of Ukraine.

While the plan immediately appeared doomed after it failed to gain traction with the Kremlin, it cast a further cloud over the peace agreement.



</s>The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine have vowed to go ahead with a peace plan for eastern Ukraine.

France, Germany and Russia have mediated talks between the Ukrainian government and Russia-backed rebels who have been fighting since April 2014 in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's office said that French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call today and vowed to help implement the peace deal they had brokered.

The separatists last week proclaimed a new state that aspires to include not only the areas in eastern Ukraine that they now control but territory beyond that. Poroshenko's office said both Macron and Merkel vehemently rejected the idea of the rebel state.</s>Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko demanded that Russia stop sending weapons to separatists as Poroshenko and the leaders of France, Germany, and Russia discussed a fraying plan to end the 3-year conflict.

 

 The July 24 telephone conversation among the four leaders lasted around two hours, and was the first for Emmanuel Macron since his election as France's president.

 

 The February 2015 peace plan known as the Minsk accords has failed to stop fighting in eastern Ukraine, which has killed more than 10,000 people since erupting in April 2014.

 

 The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin "presented in great detail Russia's approach on all key points of the...agreement."

 

 Poroshenko’s office said in a statement that Macron criticized last week's announcement by a separatist leader who said he wanted to establish a new state in Ukraine called Malorossia, or Little Russia.

 

 Fighting between government forces and insurgent fighters has ebbed and flowed over the years, and last week saw some of the deadliest clashes in months. Ukrainian officials said at least eight soldiers were killed.

 

 The talks came as the newly appointed U.S. envoy to Ukraine, Kurt Volker, traveled to Kyiv in an effort to revitalize the Minsk deal.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko demands Russia halt arms supplies to Russian-backed militants as the leaders of France and Germany tried to revive a peace plan.