Putin, Ban Ki-moon Commend Minsk Agreements on Truce in Southeastern Ukraine: Kremlin

Updated 01:13 a.m. Moscow time.

MOSCOW, September 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon discussed in a phone conversation situation in Ukraine and commended the Minsk agreements on truce in southeastern Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

"The crisis situation in Ukraine has been discussed. Both sides gave a positive evaluation to the agreements upon a general ceasefire in southeast of the country, reached on a meeting of a contact group in

In mid-April, Kiev authorities launched a special military operation to suppress independence supporters in the southeast of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government forces and southeastern Ukraine's independence supporters agreed on a ceasefire and an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange on September 5 at a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine held in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.