Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his support for Ukraine's peace settlement plan in a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, the Kremlin said on Sunday.

During the three-way talks, "Putin generally supported the decision of Petro Poroshenko to implement the plan of a peace settlement. In this context it was stressed that the intentions announced by the Ukrainian head of state must be supported by an actual ceasefire," the Kremlin said.

Putin also underlined the importance for the Ukrainian government and representatives of the protecting regions to immediately launch talks, it added.

The three leaders reiterated readiness to further promote normalization in Ukraine, it stressed.

Merkel and Hollande took note of Moscow's support for Ukrainian unilateral ceasefire plan, but told their Russian counterpart to do more to facilitate the resumption of negotiations, the French president's office said in a statement.

The two leaders, who brokered an ice breaking meeting between Kiev and Moscow leaders earlier this month, "called on all parties in the conflict to cease hostilities and asked the Russian President to further the resumption of negotiations," the statement said.

"They also reiterated the importance of ensuring full control of the Russian-Ukrainian border to prevent infiltration of weapons and gunmen," it added.

The Ukrainian president on Friday announced a week-long unilateral ceasefire plan aiming at peacefully resolving the conflict in the country's eastern regions, calling on the rebels to lay down weapons and start peace talks with the Kiev government.

Poroshenko also unveiled proposals for the peace plan involving power decentralization, early elections, and creation of a 10-km buffer zone on the Ukrainian-Russian border.

Putin, in a statement issued late Saturday, said he welcomed the ceasefire and Poroshenko's "intention to take other concrete steps to reach a peaceful settlement."