REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PARIS -- French President Francois Hollande on Thursday said his country is ready to provide support to help monitoring Ukrainian-Russian borders and to stop weapons transfer, as part of international effort to help resolve a political crisis.

During a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Porochenko, Hollande "confirmed that France would support the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) to control the border between Ukraine and Russia," without giving further details, according to a statement issued by Hollande's office.

The French president in the statement also "stressed the importance of continuing the national dialogue to lay out terms of local organization in the Donetsk and Lugansk and promote the economic recovery of Donbass."

Urging both rivals to respect the cease-fire deal, Hollande said he is ready to broker a new meeting between Kiev and Moscow leaders with the help of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to boost a peace plan.

Earlier the day, the European Union (EU) governments agreed new sanctions on Moscow, including the ban of Russian state-owned firms to raise capital or borrow on European markets, which will take effect on Friday, in response to the current Ukraine situation.

The EU said these sanctions could be amended, suspended or repealed depending on the conclusions of this assessment.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika