Crisis talks on Ukraine prove difficult but ‘some progress’ made, says German Foreign Minister
Ukraine crisis talks in Berlin Sunday were “difficult” but made “some progress”, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after meeting with his Ukrainian, Russian and French counterparts.
“Difficult talks, but I think and I hope that we have made some progress on certain points”, the German minister said after a five-hour meeting with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov, Ukraine’s Pavlo Klimkin and Laurent Fabius of France.
“Despite the difficult climate, we have registered some progress”, a French diplomatic source echoed. The nature of the progress wasn’t disclosed by either Mr Steinmeier or the French source.
The meeting’s participants will report back to their respective heads of government and “possibly decide on Monday or Tuesday in which form we can resume today’s discussion”, Mr Steinmeier said.
Ahead of the meeting the German minister had expressed hopes of agreeing on steps towards a ceasefire, while admitting that Moscow and Kiev were still “far from an end to tensions”.
