MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to abstain from any further shelling of Donbass communities by the Ukrainian Armed Forces that leads to civilian deaths, the Kremlin press service reported following the leaders’ telephone conversation initiated by the Ukrainian side.

"During the course of discussing the settlement in southeastern Ukraine, it was emphasized that it is vital to strictly abide by the ceasefire reached on July 21, as well as to disengage forces and hardware from the line of contact. The Russian president stressed that to reach de-escalation of the conflict it is of dire importance to refrain from further shelling of the Donbass Region's communities by the Ukrainian forces, which leads to victims among civilians," the press service's statement reads.

This has been the second phone call between the leaders of the two countries since Zelensky was elected President of Ukraine. The first one took place on July 11 also at the Ukrainian side’s initiative.

On Tuesday, Zelensky called on the Normandy format leaders — Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron — to convene as soon as possible following the deaths of four Ukrainian servicemen after alleged actions by the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militia. Donetsk slammed these statements as bearing no relation to reality, adding that the incident took place too far from the line of contact and outside of the republic’s weapon range.

Releasing captives and other issues

The presidents also hashed over the issues of stepping up effort on releasing captives, the Kremlin press service said. "The sides agreed on intensifying efforts to return captives," the press service stated.

The two leaders confirmed the importance of consistently fulfilling the Minsk agreements, including legal aspects of granting a special status to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. In this context, the sides noted the need for a constructive dialogue, including in the framework of the Contact Group.

Putin and Zelensky also discussed prospects of cooperating in the Normandy format (Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France).