PARIS: The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine called for a peace deal on Monday aimed at ending the separatist war in eastern Ukraine “as quickly as possible”. France’s President Francois Hollande’s office said in a statement that the leaders spoke over the phone and “recalled their commitment to the Minsk peace accords and their determination to do everything to ensure they are implemented in full as quickly as possible”. The Minsk accords, signed in February 2015 with French and German mediation and in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, calls for a ceasefire along with a range of political, economic and social measures to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The call comes as fresh clashes erupted and a Ukrainian soldier was killed and three others injured in a mortar attack by pro-Russian insurgents in the country’s east, where violence has persisted since the peace treaty. Ukrainian leader Petro Porochenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel along with France’s Hollande and Russia’s Putin also called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. “They stressed the importance of implementing all necessary measures to consolidate the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, starting with the withdrawal of weapons and planning the disengagement of armed forces,” the statement said. Kiev and the West have accused Russia of buttressing the rebels and sending in regular troops across the border. However these claims have been repeatedly denied by Moscow. Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said last month that it could take years to end the conflict, which has already claimed more than 9,300 lives since its eruption in April 2014.