France and Germany Warn Vladimir Putin About Ukraine Separatist Elections

FranÇois Hollande and Angela Merkel urge all parties in country’s peace process to stop fighting

BERLIN--The leaders of France and Germany told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday that rebel-run elections conducted in the separatist-controlled regions of Ukraine would endanger the so-called Minsk peace process for the country, a German government spokesman said.

Ukraine is obliged to hold local elections by the end of this year in the east under the cease-fire deal agreed between Kiev, Moscow, Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in Minsk, Belarus, on Feb. 12. The country will hold local elections on Oct. 25 but has said it won’t run elections in rebel-held areas in the east because of continued violence there.

The separatists have said they will hold their own ballots in mid October and early November.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President FranÇois Hollande and Mr. Putin spoke by phone after the two western leaders met Monday with their Ukrainian counterpart in Berlin, urging all parties involved in the peace process to end the fighting that has recently flared up in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko, who is reluctant to see the separatists legitimized, insisted at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday that his country’s Oct. 25 local elections can’t include areas where violence is still prevalent.

Mr. Hollande’s office stressed the importance for Ukraine to go ahead with local elections. “The three heads of state and government also discussed the preparation of elections in Ukraine,” the French government said. “This election will be a major step in the implementation of Minsk measures.”

In their phone call, Ms. Merkel, Mr. Hollande and Mr. Putin also agreed that another Normandy summit between the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine “might be useful” in the coming weeks, the French government said.

—William Horobin in Paris contributed to this report.