CRI听力:Poroshenko, Putin Hope for Peace Deal by Friday

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has held a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of a new round of peace talks in Minsk, expressing hopes that a peace deal will be reached by Friday.

"Our first task is peace. That is why today at 5 a.m. - taking into account the time difference - I had a long conversation with Putin. How can anyone be against peace? How can anyone reject the fact that people must stop dying?"

Representatives of Ukraine, the rebels and Russia are due to meet tomorrow in Belarus to continue talks which began earlier this week.

Putin's has put forward a 7-point proposal to end the violence in eastern Ukraine.

He says the plan includes an international monitoring team and the exchange of hostages.

"I very much count on Ukrainian leadership supporting this emergent progress in bilateral relations and using the positive work of the contact group to achieve a final and comprehensive resolution of the situation in southeastern Ukraine."

Putin says he hopes a peace deal will be reached by Friday, a comment echoed later by Poroshenko.

The U.S. and the EU accuse Russia of arming the rebels, a claim the Kremlin denies.

Meanwhile, France has suspended the delivery of helicopter warships to Russia, with President Francois Hollande saying the "timing isn't right."

U.S. President Barack Obama has also reaffirmed NATO's alliance with the Baltic states as part of a 12-hour trip to Estonia.

Obama is in Europe to attend a forthcoming NATO meeting.