MOSCOW, July 19 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on Saturday on the need to urgently stop hostilities in Ukraine's southeast and begin peace talks, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The two leaders also stressed the importance of a thorough and objective investigation of all the circumstances of the downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane.
"It was noted that it is of fundamental importance to resume consultations within the contact group with representatives of the protest regions as well as the implementation of the Russian initiative for the presence of the OSCE observers at two checkpoints on the Russian-Ukrainian border," the Kremlin said. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Alison Williams)
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