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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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.