Zelenskyi had a telephone conversation with Merkel: they talked about vaccine for Ukraine and conflict in Donbas

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi had a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They discussed the provision of a coronavirus vaccine to Ukraine and the progress of settling the conflict in Donbas.

The press service of the President's Office reported this.

The Chancellor wished Zelenskyi well, and he requested that Ukraine had expanded access to the coronavirus vaccine, which is currently being developed within the COVAX international fund.

"We welcome the breakthrough achieved by the German company BioNTech together with the American company Pfizer in developing a coronavirus vaccine. It's very encouraging news. I would ask for your help in taking into account Ukraine's interests when planning the supply of coronavirus vaccine," Volodymyr Zelenskyi said.

Zelenskyi also spoke about the longest truce in the east.

"We have a positive moment, the longest truce in the entire war period. The key achievement is that the number of deceased Ukrainian servicemen has decreased tenfold compared to last year. However, provocations by illegal armed groups are still ongoing. It makes moving forward to peace extremely difficult," Volodymyr Zelenskyi stressed.

He noted that the Ukrainian party had fully complied with the agreements on opening entry-exit checkpoints "Shchastya" and "Zolote." Ukraine's international partners confirmed it, in particular diplomats from other countries, and OSCE representatives in the TCG. Meanwhile, the planned start of the mentioned points' work was disrupted today by another party, which didn't open the checkpoints on the territory of the Luhansk region not controlled by Ukraine.

The President of Ukraine also spoke about the joint action plan prepared by Ukraine, provided in advance to our partners in the Normandy format, which will help intensify the work of the TCG.

The President of Ukraine and the Chancellor of Germany emphasized the importance of the forthcoming conversation between the advisers to the leaders of the Normandy 4.