Zelensky calls on Macron, Merkel and Putin to urgently hold Normandy Four meeting

KIEV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the leaders of the Normandy Four participating countries to hold talks on the deaths of four Ukrainian soldiers who were killed during the shelling on Tuesday.

"I urge the leaders of the Normandy negotiation format countries - Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin - to get together as soon as possible to resume negotiations," Zelensky wrote on his social media page.

Two rounds of shellings were carried out in Eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, killing four servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"The truce lasted 17 days. Today's incident aims to undermine not only this ceasefire but also the negotiation process as a whole," Zelensky said.

The Normandy contact group, or the Normandy Four, has existed since June 2014 and was set up to resolve the conflict in Donbas that erupted in April 2014.