Merkel Urges Putin to Support Solution to Ukraine Gas Dispute
German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call Friday to throw his weight behind a quick resolution of an ongoing gas dispute with Ukraine as winter looms.
In the latest talks between the two leaders on the crisis in Ukraine, Merkel also underlined that upcoming elections in areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists must respect national law.
On the EU-brokered crunch talks to resolve a bitter gas price dispute between Russia and Ukraine, Merkel called on Putin "to firmly support the search for a swift solution before the approaching winter", a statement from her office said.
A new meeting is set for next week amid fears Moscow could in the coming months halt crucial energy supplies to Europe, which gets about a third of its gas from Russia of which about a half transits via Ukraine.
Meanwhile insurgent leaders are boycotting a parliamentary snap poll Sunday in Ukraine and holding their own election in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, home to nearly three million people.
Merkel said this poll "must be conducted according to Ukrainian law".
She also repeated her call for "full implementation" of a peace deal reached last month in the Belarussian capital Minsk between Kiev, Moscow and the pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine.
The two leaders agreed, according to the German statement, that the so-called "contact group" including representatives of Russia, Ukraine the separatists and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe must meet soon to discuss "the elections but also the economic situation in the region".
Source: Agence France Presse
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