"The chancellor expressed her conviction that, the time must now be used, after the internationally recognized presidential election, to stabilize the situation, especially in Eastern Ukraine. Russia must live up to its significant responsibility in this matter," Merkel said, according to her spokesman Steffen Seibert.
The two leaders held talks lasting around an hour at a hotel in northern France as world leaders gathered to mark the 70th anniversary of D-Day that this year has taken place against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Merkel and Putin spent their entire talks "searching for a solution to the Ukraine crisis."
"The conversation was essentially about finding solutions and compromises, not on differences of opinion," Peskov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
The leaders are gathered in Normandy to mark 70 years since the biggest military operation in history was launched. On June 6th 1944 the allies landed around 156,000 troops on the Normandy beaches to free Europe from Nazi Germany.
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