NORMANDY, France, June 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko, who met Friday during the D-Day celebrations in Normandy, France, spoke in favor of ceasing the violence in eastern Ukraine as soon as possible.
Putin had a brief conversation with Poroshenko on the sidelines of the formal breakfast organized by French President Francois Hollande.
"During their brief conversation, both Putin and Poroshenko spoke in favor of stopping the bloodshed in southeastern Ukraine as soon as possible, as well as about [the need] for both sides – the Ukrainian military forces and Ukrainian federalization supporters – to cease hostilities,” Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"Moreover, it was confirmed that there was no alternative than to settle the situation through peaceful political means,” he added.
The short talks marked the first meeting between Putin and Poroshenko, who secured a landslide victory in Ukraine’s recent presidential elections.
Ahead of his trip to Normandy, President Putin said in a televised interview with the French media that he was ready to meet Poroshenko in France and stressed that Moscow was open for dialogue with the new authorities in Kiev as it respected the will of the Ukrainian people expressed in the recent presidential elections.
According to Putin, the president-elect had a unique chance to stop the violence in eastern Ukrainian regions as he had no blood on his hands.
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