MOSCOW. June 23 (Interfax) - Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko did not refuse to take part in a telephone conversation of the Normandy Group (France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine) leaders; there is a working negotiating format involving the leaders of Russia, France and Germany, the Kremlin said.
"No, of course not. There is simply this working format which, despite being close to the Normandy one, is not such," Russian President's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters, when asked whether the number of the Normandy Group participants has changed.
That the leader of Ukraine did not take part in the telephone talks does not mean he will no longer take part in the negotiations, Peskov said.
"No, of course not," the press secretary said.
Asked whether there are plans to return to the four-party phone talks in the near future, Peskov said: "No format can be ruled out. Both President Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov said on many occasions that Russia is ready for any format for the sake of achieving at least some result in the cause of resolving the Ukrainian conflict."
Earlier on Monday Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, the Kremlin said.
"The parties have exchanged their views on the crisis in the southeast of Ukraine and the course of implementation of the February 12, 2015 Minsk agreements," the statement said.
"In particular, a whole host of ideas were expressed in the context of a Normandy-format (i.e. involving Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine) meeting of foreign ministers due in Paris on June 23 and further meetings of the Contact Group and its working subgroups in Minsk," the spokesperson said.
"Russia reiterated the need for an immediate cessation of shelling by the Ukrainian government forces of populated areas in Donbas, to step up the political peace process and to address issues relating to the constitutional reform and socio-economic reconstruction of the southeastern regions," the press office said.
The three countries' leaders have agreed to continue personal communication, the press office added.