(VOVworld) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Monday that high-ranking talks will open in the Kazakhstan capital, Astana next month to negotiate an end to the political crisis in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko: Ukraine can neither afford nor win a confrontation with Russia's armed forces. (Sergei Supinsky / AFP / Getty Images)

The meeting will include Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Foreign Ministers of participant countries will prepare a meeting agenda and draft resolutions.

Merkel, who has been closely involved in diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis, also welcomed the exchange of prisoners between the Ukrainian government and separatists. (Photo: worldbulletin.net)

Earlier German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated the call to the Russian government to flex its muscles to enforce the ceasefire agreed in Minsk last September, adding that parties involved in the conflict should make more efforts toward reaching a peace solution. She noted a stabilisation of the situation can only come if the agreed territorial lines are respected.