Merkel and Hollande to come to Kyiv on Thursday with new peace plan

French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are to fly to Kyiv on Thursday with a new plan for peace in the Donbas.

The press secretary of the chancellor's office Steffen Seibert said it on Thursday, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

After visiting Kyiv, Merkel and Hollande will go on to Moscow on Friday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Russian news agency Lenta.ru, the two leaders will meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to discuss how to end the conflict in Ukraine. Hollande and Merkel will then discuss the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on February 6.

As reported earlier by the BBC’s Ukrainian service, French President François Hollande announced the forthcoming meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during a press conference in Paris.

"We'll go to Kyiv in the afternoon and we will put forward a new proposal to resolve the conflict and [ensure] the territorial integrity of Ukraine. We will discuss this issue with Poroshenko on Thursday and with the Russian president on Friday..." Hollande said.

Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported that the new peace plan that which the European leaders intend to propose is based on retaining the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

As UNIAN reported earlier, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Ukraine on Thursday for talks with top Ukrainian officials.