German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday warned that Moscow would be unilaterally breaching the 2015 Minsk peace accords if it were to recognise the independence of east Ukraine's rebel republics.
In a call between Scholz and Russia's Vladimir Putin, the German leader underlined "such a step would be a gross contradiction of the Minsk agreement for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in east Ukraine and a unilateral breach of these deals from the Russian side".
Following the conversation, Scholz is currently consulting with his "closest partners" including France's President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, the chancellery said in a statement.
