Putin, Merkel discuss COVID-19, Ukraine over phone

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the settlement of the Ukraine conflict in a phone conversation Wednesday, the Kremlin has said.

"The importance of close coordination of international efforts in this direction with active participation of the World Health Organization was emphasized," it said in a statement.

Putin and Merkel examined in detail problems of the intra-Ukrainian conflict settlement, stressing the necessity of consistently implementing the Minsk agreements and decisions adopted at the Normandy format summits between leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France.

The two leaders positively assessed the recently held exchange of prisoners between Kiev and the non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk and Donetsk, the statement said.

In addition, the parties discussed issues related to the development of the situation in Syria and Libya, as well as the current situation in the world oil market, it said.