The president of Ukraine said he hoped to restore a ceasefire with Russia next week and called for a summit with President Vladimir Putin, as concerns mount over a build-up of troops along the border and increased skirmishes in the Donbas region.  

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said advisers from Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany would meet on Monday and that he expected a truce to follow shortly after.  

The ceasefire "was productive at first, but then, unfortunately" ended, Zelenskiy told the media after a meeting with France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, which was meant to be a show of unity.  

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A ceasefire would mark a major de-escalation in tensions after weeks of skirmishes and a build-up of 80,000 Russian troops along the eastern border with Ukraine and in Crimea. NATO said it's the largest massing of force since 2014 and it has sparked concerns of a full-blown military operation.

Germany, France and Ukraine on Friday urged Russia to pull back its troops. According to a joint press release, the leaders shared "concerns about the increase of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine as well as in illegally annexed Crimea."

France and Germany have been mediators in the conflict since 2015. Fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists has claimed more than 13,000 lives, according to United Nations figures.

Zelenskiy also called for a face-to-face summit with Putin. They last met in December of 2019 when Kyiv and Moscow agreed to a ceasefire and prisoner exchange.  

Ahead of the meeting, the Kremlin urged Macron and Merkel to push Ukraine to cease "all provocations" and the need to apply the Minsk agreements and to emphasize the need to adhere to last year's ceasefire, which ushered in a period of relative calm.   

"It would be very important for us that Mr Macron and Ms Merkel use their influence during this video conference with Mr Zelenskiy to explain to him the possibility of a definitive cessation of all provocations," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.  

Zelenskiy also used the meeting with Macron and Merkel to try to elicit more support from Europe. The bloc had already imposed sanctions on Russia, but Ukraine wants to join NATO.  

"We cannot stay indefinitely in the EU and NATO waiting room," Zelenskiy told French newspaper Le Figaro in an interview ahead of his visit.