Negotiations took place at the initiative of Berlin. According to the Kremlin, special attention was paid to the situation in southeastern Ukraine.

“The President of Russia emphasized the counterproductiveness of the Ukrainian side’s attempts to distort the content of the Minsk agreements,” the message said.

The Russian side emphasized that the Kiev line for selective fulfillment of obligations under the Minsk agreements leads to a deadlock in the negotiation process.

In addition, Putin and Merkel gave a negative assessment to the recent statements by Ukrainian officials about the need to revise the Minsk “Package of Measures”. The parties confirmed the non-alternativeness of the Minsk agreements as the only basis for resolving the intra-Ukrainian conflict.

“In this context, the importance of the full and unconditional implementation of the“ Package of Measures ”and the decisions adopted at the summits of the“ Norman Quartet ”, including in Paris on December 9, 2019, was noted,” the Kremlin said.

It is noted that Putin and Merkel spoke in favor of intensifying work in this direction, primarily through assistants to leaders of Norman-format countries.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Alexei Reznikov said that the Minsk agreements are largely irrelevant, do not correspond to realities.