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Rivals in east Ukraine asked to swiftly sign arms withdrawal accord

Xinhua, July 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine on Thursday urged the fighting camps in east Ukraine to rapidly sign preliminary accords to withdraw weapons from the area, the French president's office said.

During a phone conversation, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said they "want the agreements to be signed as soon as possible," the office said.

They also requested that an effective monitoring plan be drawn up to ensure the withdrawal of heavy arms, which should have been already pulled out as stipulated by the peace accord signed in Minsk in February.

Besides, the four leaders discussed Ukraine's upcoming local election, set to promote decentralization in the east European country in addition to humanitarian issues, mainly the exchange of prisoners. Endi