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Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Both had expressed "concern about the escalation of tensions in southeast Ukraine," said the Kremlin afterwards.
Putin accused the Ukrainian government of "provocative actions" that "deliberately aggravate the situation at the front."
In the past few days there had been repeated reports of Russian troop movements on the border with Ukraine and fighting on the line of demarcation with the pro-Russian separatists.
The two politicians were reportedly also discussing the case of the imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
The human rights organization Amnesty International recently sharply criticized the Kremlin critic's detention conditions.
"Russia, the Russian authorities, may be putting him in a slow death situation and trying to hide what is happening to him," Amnesty International (AI) general secretary Agnes Callamard told Reuters on Wednesday.
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Navalny is one of the most prominent critics of the Russian president.
He survived a poison attack in Russia in 2020 and received medical treatment in Germany.
Upon returning to his home country in January, he was arrested and sentenced to more than two and a half years in prison.
According to information from his environment, his health has recently deteriorated further.
His lawyer Olga Mikhailova said on Wednesday evening after a visit to Navalny: "He looks bad, he doesn't feel good." He was losing the feeling in his hands after suffering from pain in his back and numbness in his legs over the past week had complained.
An MRI scan shows two herniated discs and one swollen disc.
In addition, Navalny, who is said to have been transferred to a hospital ward according to Russian media reports, complained of severe cough and fever.
In order to receive treatment from a doctor, the opposition party started a hunger strike a week ago Wednesday.
According to his lawyer, he currently weighs around 80 kilograms.
When he arrived at the prison camp, the 1.89-meter-tall Kremlin critic still weighed 93 kilograms.
So far, the prison authorities have only given him painkillers, Navalny said.
In addition, the prison officials would make fun of him and fry chicken near him.
He had previously accused the prison authorities of "torture" through sleep deprivation.
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Several supporters of the opposition have been sentenced to several days in prison after protests.
Lawyers for the human rights organization Agora announced on Thursday that a client had received a ten-day prison term after four people had been sentenced to between eight and nine days on Wednesday.
The activists demonstrated on Tuesday in front of the Pokrov penal camp around a hundred kilometers east of Moscow.
The White House again described Nawalny's detention on Wednesday as "politically motivated" and expressed "concern" about the deteriorating condition of the opposition member.
His supporters fear that after the poisoning in August 2020 he will suffer further harm and are demanding that he be transferred to a hospital.
Pokrov is considered to be one of the toughest penal camps in Russia.