16 December 2014, 23:02 GMT
"If he [the Russian President] says he is committed to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, we have to trust his word and work on it," Merkel said after the EU summit in Brussels.
She added that such a statement was made by the Russian leader during the recent telephone conversations with the leaders of Germany, France and Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assured Kiev that Moscow never regarded Donetsk and Luhansk provinces — the self-proclaimed people’s republics, or DPR and LPR — as yet "another Crimea."
He vowed that Russia respects Ukraine’s integrity, but added that Crimea, historically a Russian territory with a majority Russian population, was a "unique" case.
