MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, the Kremlin said on Monday, in which he said the flare-up of violence in eastern Ukraine was due to Kiev’s “violent suppression” of the region.
In the conversations he also commented on the importance of starting dialogue between Kiev and the pro-Russian rebel leaders in east Ukraine, the statement said.
Reporting by Thomas Grove; Editing by Dominic Evans
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