BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Monday the German chancellor had urged pro-Russian separatists to halt their offensive on the east Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, and asked Russia's Vladimir Putin in a call on Sunday to use his influence over them.
"If we want to get out of this spiral of escalation and give diplomacy a chance, then it is absolutely crucial that above all the pro-Russian separatists finally respect the cease fire," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told a press conference.
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