German, French and Ukrainian leaders held Wednesday a telephone conversation and confirmed the urgency for the Contact Group to meet on the Ukraine crisis.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande expressed their condolences on the death of 11 civilians in Tuesday's attack on a passenger bus in eastern Ukraine, according to a statement of the German government.

Merkel, Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko agreed that this incident demonstrated once more the urgency to immediately come to a comprehensive ceasefire and a precise definition of the contact line between areas controlled by Ukrainian forces and pro-independence insurgents.

The three leaders, in this regard, called for a speedy meeting of the Contact Group over Ukraine for possible agreements between conflict parties.

If differences could be bridged at the meeting, they believed it would pave the way for further higher-level talks, which could be held in Kazakhstan's capital Astana to discuss the implementation of the Minsk peace agreement. Endit

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