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German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia broke international law with its intervention in Crimea, a deputy spokesman of German government said.
Merkel said in a phone call with Putin that Russia has violated the international law with the "unacceptable Russian intervention" in Crimea, deputy spokesman Georg Streiter said in a statement.
Merkel also called on Russia to respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Streiter added.
Putin accepted Merkel's proposal to immediately set up a "fact finding mission" and a contact group in order to start a political dialogue, the spokesman said.
Putin and Merkel agreed to continue consultations both in the bilateral format (through the two nations' foreign ministries) and multilaterally to promote the stabilization of the situation in Ukraine, the statement said.
On Sunday, Putin has shared his assessment of critical situation in Ukraine with several world leaders, justifying Russia's potential military move in that country.
In a telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama, Putin said Russia retained the right to protect its interests and Russian speakers living in Ukraine if violence spread on eastern Ukrainian regions and the Crimea, an autonomous region dominated by ethnic Russians. Russia has a Black Sea naval base in the port of Sevastopol in Crimea.
Putin attributed Russia's possible military move to "provocative and criminal actions by ultra-nationalistic elements that are actually encouraged by current authorities in Kiev," according to the Interfax news agency.
The Ukrainian political crisis, which originated from public anger over President Viktor Yanukovych's decision in November to put on hold an association agreement with the European Union in order to get Russian aid, took an abrupt turn in the past two weeks as a result of bloody clashes between protestors and police. Yanukovych was ousted by parliament and had to flee to Russia.
Crimea has become the center of Ukraine's ongoing crisis after armed men carrying Russian navy flags on Friday took control of the two airports in the regional capital of Simferopol, one day after gunmen seized the local parliament and government buildings.
Ukraine's current authorities were at odds with Russia over the latter's potential military actions in Crimea.
At a cabinet meeting Saturday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk called on concerned parties to abandon armed conflict and resolve the crisis through peaceful means.
On Saturday, Putin said no decision had been made on sending troops to Ukraine, despite the Russian parliament approval.
European foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss the recent developments in Ukraine.
