France, Germany call for peaceful settlement in Eastern Ukraine (Source: AFP/VNA)

A joint statement signed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday also called for a return of Russian officers to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination for the cease-fire in the conflict region. It is necessary to implement agreements on disengagement and the withdrawal of heavy weapons behind the agreed withdrawal lines, withdrawal of tanks, artillery and mortars to the agreed storage sites, the statement added, listing requirements to end the conflict.

A ceasefire was agreed in Minsk in February 2015 as part of a broader peace plan, but its terms haven’t been fulfilled.