The leaders
of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine are hoping to meet this week to discuss
the crisis in eastern Ukraine. This follows a last-ditch German-French push to
end the bloodshed.
Angela
Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert said in a statement that the chancellor,
President Hollande, and as his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, Vladimir
Putin and Petro Poroshenko, had agreed to aim for a Wednesday meeting in Minsk
during a conference call on Sunday.
"In
(the call) they worked further on a package of measures in the context of their
efforts on a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine,"
the statement said.
"This
work will be continued tomorrow in Berlin with the goal of holding a 'Normandy
Format' summit on Wednesday in Minsk," he added. The term "Normany
format" refers to a meeting of the leaders of France, Germany, Russian and
Ukraine on the sidelines of celebrations last June of the 70th anniversary of
the allies' landing in Normandy during World War II.
President Poroshenko appeared upbeat following the telephone call, saying in a statement
posted on his official website that said he hoped the Minsk summit would lead
to a "swift and unconditional ceasefire" in eastern Ukraine.
President
Putin, though, cautioned that the meeting may not even take place.
"We
will be aiming for Wednesday, if by that time we manage to agree on a number of
points which we've been intensely discussing lately," Putin said during a
meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk.
Munich
Security Conference
While there
was no immediate comment from Chancellor Merkel beyond the announcement that
the leaders were aiming to meet, in remarks to the Munich Security Conference
on Saturday, she said she was "uncertain" about the chances of
success for a last-ditch peace initiative that she and President Hollande
launched late last week.
Speaking at
the Conference prior to the leaders' phone call on Sunday, German Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier appeared pessimistic about the prospects for a
quick resolution to the Ukraine crisis, saying this remained "off in the
distance."
US
Secretary of State John Kerry, who was also in attendance, used his remarks to
stress that Washington and its European allies were "united in our
diplomacy" on Ukraine.
Joined FM Steinmeier @GermanyDiplo, @LaurentFabius in sharing thoughts at @MunSecConf. pic.twitter.com/zGjUyHqlbC
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) February 8, 2015
This
appeared to be an attempt to play down a reported rift between Washington and European capitals, including Berlin, over the wisdom of supplying weapons toUkrainian government forces.
For his part, Steinmeier echoed comments made at the conference by Chancellor Merkel on Saturday, saying the delivering weapons
would be "not just highly risky but counterproductive."
Wrapping up
the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, its chairman, former German diplomat
Wolfgang Ischinger, described the 51st edition of the annual gathering as one
of the most intensive and interesting conferences in recent years.
He noted
that while delegates had been confronted with a great deal of bad news
regarding conflicts in various parts of the world, at least the four leaders'
plan to hold a summit in Minsk on Wednesday, provided a "glimmer of
hope" for Ukraine.
pfd/rc (AFP, dpa, AP, Reuters)
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