MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault on Friday that a flare-up of violence in eastern Ukraine may nullify two-year long efforts to pacify warring sides, Russia’s foreign ministry said on Friday.

Ayrault also told Lavrov that Moscow should do everything to ensure the escalation ends in eastern Ukraine, where two years of negotiation have failed to bring peace.

They also discussed Syria in a phone call, it said.