Updated 11:59 Moscow time.
MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) - Next steps on the reconciliation of the internal conflict in Ukraine will be determined at the upcoming ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) forum in Milan, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Secretary Kerry argued that the Minsk agreements must be completely fulfilled, although noting that some of them are negotiable. He also added that the upcoming meeting in Milan would make it possible to set up a schedule of these agreements' implementation.
An armed conflict in southeastern Ukraine began in mid-April, when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters of the country’s southeast. Almost 3,700 people have been killed and over 8,800 have been wounded since the start of the confrontation, according to UN estimates.
On September 5, the opposing sides agreed to a ceasefire as a result of a Contact Group meeting in Minsk. A nine-point memorandum that specifies the steps for the ceasefire implementation was adopted later in September. The sides have subsequently accused each other of repeated violation of the truce regime.
Earlier, Kremlin said that during the 10th ASEM forum in Italy's Milan, scheduled for October 16-17, Russian President Vladimir Putin might meet with the leaders of Ukraine, Germany and France to discuss the Ukrainian crisis.
