(VOVworld) – Crises in Ukraine and the Middle East were major topics of the phone conversations between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. They discussed efforts to deescalate Ukraine’s tension, reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and settle situations in Iraq and Libya. 

The 5 leaders stressed the need to provide investigators unrestricted access to the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 to search for victims’ bodies and carry out the probe.

The crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in east Ukraine near Grabovo. (Photo: Reuters)

They underscored the importance of imposing new sanctions against Russia, saying arms and military equipment continue to be sent to eastern Ukraine and gunmen can enter this region from Russian border. 

The leaders all backed Israel’s right of self-defense and the adoption of an immediate, unconditional, and humanitarian truce. They showed concerns over escalating violence between Israel and Palestine that will cause more deaths of civilians. 

They expressed the hope to see a political progress in Iraq. In regards of the situation in Libya, they called for an immediate truce in Tripoli and asked the newly-elected Parliament to convene its first session.