PARIS

The French government has insisted the ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia is "not dead" after pro-Russian separatists seized the key city of Debaltseve in eastern Ukraine.

French Government spokesperson Stephane Le Foll told reporters in Paris that the truce, signed last week in Minsk, "was not dead" and that France would do "everything to keep the agreement alive".

He said: "We will continue, we know we have some problems, we know that not everything has been settled.

"But between the situation just before the Minsk agreement and the situation now ... there has been progress."

Le Foll said that French President Francois Hollande would have an "emergency meeting" by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday evening.

Despite the agreement for a cease-fire signed on Feb. 12 in Belarus' capital, Minsk, which went into effect on Feb. 15, fighting has continued to rage in Debaltseve.

Separatist leaders have claimed Debaltseve was "our territory" and so not included in the cease-fire, which the Ukrainian government has denied.