Ukraine: Leaders focus on elections, cease-fire in east

The leaders of Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France have reaffirmed their commitment to the Minsk cease-fire deal on Wednesday, amid an escalation of tensions in eastern Ukraine.

The phone call will bring together Ukrainian, Russian and French presidents Petro Poroshenko, Vladimir Putin and Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“They have underlined the importance of the withdrawal of heavy weapons and a comprehensive cease-fire in eastern Ukraine”.

“The leaders have declared their continued support to the full implementation of the package of measures of the Minsk agreement, also in the year 2016”, she said.

While full-scale fighting in the war between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists died down in 2015, repeated cease-fires are routinely violated.

Moscow said the EU-Ukraine pact, which is due to come into force next month, could lead to a flood of European imports into Russian Federation and make its own exports to Ukraine less competitive.

The four foreign ministers of the Normandy Format countries are set to meet in February to discuss the details of the implementation of the Minsk accords.

Ukraine’s economy ministry said earlier on Wednesday an import ban on dozens of Russian goods from dog food to locomotives could be imposed as soon as January 10.

Russia then annexed the southern Crimea peninsula in March 2014 and a month later pro-Russian separatists had taken over government buildings in the predominantly Russian-speaking eastern cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv.