Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has instructed the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to initiate a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the wake of the recent events in Crimea and the escalation of violence in Donbas.

"The Foreign Ministry should arrange telephone conversations with the leaders of Germany and France in the tripartite Normandy format, ask for conversations with the U.S. vice president [Joe Biden] and European Council President Donald Tusk, and initiate a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin," the Ukrainian presidential press service reported following a conference attended by the top officials from security agencies and the Foreign Ministry.