"Normandy Four" leaders discuss E. Ukraine conflict over phone

Leaders of the "Normandy Four" states held a phone conversation to discuss how to settle the armed conflict in the Donbass region of east Ukraine, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday in a statement.

According to the statement, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany reaffirmed their commitment to the Minsk agreement regarding security and political aspects of a peaceful settlement.

"They welcomed the agreement on resuming the ceasefire reached at the meeting of the Contact Group on March 29 and pointed out the importance of fully implementing it," the statement said.

Normandy format, also known as the Normandy contact group, is a diplomatic group of senior representatives from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France tasked to resolve the conflict in east Ukraine between government troops and pro-independence rebels, which has claimed 10,000 lives since April 2014.

The 13-point Minsk agreement, outlining the steps needed to end the conflict, was reached in February 2015 in talks involving leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France. The cease-fire pact has been consistently violated. Endi