Talks on Ukrainian Crisis Could Be Held Again Next Week: Steinmeier

© Sputnik / Maksim BlinovGerman Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (left) and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (left) and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - Sputnik International
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German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that the foreign ministers of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine have agreed to discuss Ukrainian crisis resolution next week if on this level progress is achieved in the coming days.

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MOSCOW, January 13 (Sputnik) – The foreign ministers of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine could meet again next week to discuss Ukrainian crisis resolution, if certain disagreements on the issue are resolved, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has announced.

"We have agreed that if on this level progress is achieved in the coming days, we are ready to meet next week and continue the discussion started today," Steinmeier said after a closed-door meeting with his Russian, French and Ukrainian counterparts in Berlin on Monday.

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The German Foreign Minister added that the Monday meeting was "an open exchange of opinions" that revealed differences and contradictions.

"Differences of opinion that remain, as before, have showed how hard it is to reach progress both on the path to a political solution and on the path to a summit in Astana that many are waiting for," Steinmeier said.

Ukrainian peace talks have been held in several formats.

The "Normandy format" dates back to June 2014, when the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine met during celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the allies' Normandy landing in France to lay down a roadmap for a sustainable ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.

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The heads of the so-called Normandy quartet countries are expected to meet in Astana, Kazakhstan, in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the Contact Group on Ukraine, which includes representatives of Russia, the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), Kiev and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR), has been holding meetings in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

The Minsk format talks on Ukraine have resulted in two major agreements, including a breakthrough ceasefire deal between DPR, LPR and Kiev, which launched a military operation in Ukraine's southeast last spring, amid local residents" refusal to recognize the new government that came to power as a result of a coup. Both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the Minsk ceasefire agreement, signed in September, 2014.

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