German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday telephoned with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the two leaders agreeing to prepare a summit on Ukraine, a spokesman said.

Merkel and Putin agreed to continue with plans to hold a summit in the so-called Normandy format, which includes France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine, in a bid to further implement the Minsk Agreements to resolve the Ukraine conflict.

They also emphasized the urgency to accelerate negotiations on future gas transit contracts, according to a statement issued by Steffen Seibert, spokesman for the German federal government.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the situation in Syria, in particular, the military escalation in the northwest of the country and the entry into a political process led by the United Nations to overcome the conflict.

The ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014. The last summit in the Normandy Format was held in 2016 in Berlin.