(Adds details)
MOSCOW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin
will not be spoken to in the language of ultimatums at talks on
the Ukraine crisis, a Russian radio station quoted the Kremlin
as saying on Monday.
In comments to Govorit Moskva radio, Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov dismissed media speculation that German Chancellor
Angela Merkel had issued Putin an ultimatum in an attempt to
secure a breakthrough in the crisis.
"Nobody has ever talked to the president in the tone of an
ultimatum - and could not do so even if they wanted to," Peskov
was quoted as saying.
Merkel and French President Francois Hollande had five hours
of talks with Putin in Moscow on Friday.
They agreed in a phone call with Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko two days later that all four would meet in the
Belarussian city of Minsk on Wednesday to try to end about 10
months of fighting in east Ukraine.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Lidia
Kelly, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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