MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko agreed in a phone conversation on Monday to continue dialogue aimed at ending the conflict in east Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

During the phone call the two leaders discussed “steps to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the situation in southeast Ukraine. The dialogue will be continued,” the Kremlin press office said in a statement, without giving more details.

A spokesman for Poroshenko said that the Ukrainian leader had spoken to Putin during a symbolic visit to the flashpoint eastern city of Mariupol in east Ukraine.

“During the conversation the two sides continued the coordination of actions to support the ceasefire,” the Ukrainian presidency said in a statement.

The talk — the latest in a flurry of telephone diplomacy between the two heads of state — comes as a shaky three-day ceasefire between government forces and pro-Moscow rebels continues to hold despite sporadic fighting.

The truce deal between Kiev and the insurgents — whom the West says are backed by Russian troops — was signed on Friday after Putin and Poroshenko hammered out a compromise aimed at ending five months of brutal fighting.

EU leaders meanwhile struggled on Monday to secure unanimous support for expanded economic sanctions on Russia over its alleged role in the conflict, amid questions over how new measures could be lifted if the truce holds.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2014