- Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/STATEMENT Germany's Steinmeier sees progress in Ukraine talks
- Date: 13th September 2015
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** REPORTERS WAITING FOR STATEMENT (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "It shows that persistence is needed in the process of implementing the Minsk agreement. We haven't got as far as I would wish for, but our debate was better than the last two meetings. Today, it seemed as everyone involved at the round table wanted progress, knowing the difficulties ahead of us." CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING: "I hope that we have contributed to a de-escalation of the situation in eastern Ukraine and I hope that we have managed to set up some groundwork for the meeting of the presidents and the German chancellor on October 2, where this process should and must be further advanced." REPORTER TYPING ON MOBILE PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER, FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER, SAYING (ASKED ABOUT POSSIBLE SYRIA CONTACT GROUP): "Russia's position was necessary to reach an agreement with Iran. This agreement with Iran hopefully opens new perspectives for talks in the Middle East. I cannot say if this could lead to a common initiative soon, maybe backed by Russia and USA. But I can notice that the support for the suggestions of the UN special envoy, Staffan de Mistura, increases." PHOTOGRAPHER CAR WITH FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER LAURENT FABIUS LEAVING
- Embargoed: 28th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA4ME171THV759RRUGDORHTS165
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Saturday (September 12) that the Ukraine debate with his counterparts from Ukraine, Russia and France at the Villa Borsig in Berlin showed that persistence is needed in the process of implementing the Minsk agreement.
"We haven't got as far as I would wish for, but our debate was better than the last two meetings. Today it seemed as everyone involved at the round table wanted progress, knowing the difficulties ahead of us," he told reporters after the talks at the Foreign Ministry's guesthouse.
A summit on Ukraine last took place in February in Minsk, where steps were agreed to stop the conflict, which flared up last year after Ukraine's pro-Moscow president fled following street protests in Kiev.
"I hope that we have contributed to a de-escalation of the situation in eastern Ukraine and I hope that we have set up some groundwork for the meeting of the presidents and the German chancellor on October 2, where this process should and must be further advanced," said Steinmeier.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko are going to meet along with the French and German leaders in Paris in October to discuss their efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis.
The violence has mostly subsided since Sept. 1, when the Ukrainian parliament backed giving more autonomy to rebel-held areas, in line with a peace deal.
The Kremlin said that Putin stressed the need for a direct dialogue between the central government and Ukraine's rebel-held Donbass region.
Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions has killed almost 8,000 people since it burst out in mid-April 2014.
Steinmeier also commented on Russia's growing support for the UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura. "Russia's position was necessary to reach an agreement with Iran. This agreement with Iran hopefully opens new perspectives for talks in the Middle East. I cannot say if this could lead to a common initiative soon, maybe backed by Russia and USA. But I can notice that the support for the suggestions of the UN special envoy, Staffan de Mistura, increases," he said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
