The efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution are continuing. At present talks are being held to pave the way for a meeting in Minsk on Wednesday between the Chancellor and the Presidents of France, Russia and Ukraine. The focus is still on implementing the Minsk agreements, reported deputy government spokesperson Georg Streiter.
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The aim is "to speak in Minsk about Minsk" explained deputy government spokesperson Georg Streiter at the government press conference. This suggests itself since the focus is still on implementing the Minsk agreements signed in September 2014. "A peaceful solution must be achieved now in eastern Ukraine – and there must be an end to the killing there," said Georg Streiter. The Chancellor too feels this pressure, he reported.
Federal Foreign Office spokesperson Martin Schäfer added that the German government welcomes the willingness of the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, to host the meeting. Earlier the German government issued invitations to representatives of France, Russia and Ukraine to meet in Berlin today (Monday 9 February). These preparatory talks will commence at the Federal Foreign Office in the course of the afternoon. The German delegation will be led by State Secretary Markus Ederer.
"The aim of the German government is clear – we want to see progress in implementing the Minsk Protocol, especially in terms of a ceasefire to end the bloodshed on the ground," stressed Martin Schäfer. Space and time are to be created for political talks which bring the parties to the conflict some way forward.
The Minsk agreements signed on 5 and 19 September 2014 embrace "all the major parameters of a political solution," stated Martin Schäfer. Moves to implement the agreements, however, encountered "resistance and a hardening of positions" immediately after the agreements were signed. German foreign policy has already made numerous attempts to overcome these obstacles through direct contacts. Now it is a question of doing what is patently needed, and that is ending the fighting, said the spokesperson.
The questions of withdrawing heavy weaponry, of the course and monitoring of the border, of OSCE controls, and of autonomy and free elections must be politically linked. This must be done in such as way, explained Martin Schäfer, "that it is politically feasible for all sides – especially for Kyiv, for the separatists and for Moscow".
"But we do not know if this will work. We do not know if it will prove possible to broker a political deal between Kyiv and Moscow. What we do know is that this is our goal and that all of our forces are geared to achieving it," said the spokesperson.
Chronology
After her trips to Kyiv and Moscow on 5 and 6 February, Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on Sunday by telephone with the other members of the "Normandy Group": Presidents François Hollande, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko.
In efforts to achieve a comprehensive regulation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine the parties have worked further on a package of measures. This work will be continued in Berlin on 9 February with a view to holding a Normandy format meeting on Wednesday 11 February in Minsk.
The signatories of the Minsk agreements, the Trilateral Contact Group consisting of representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Russia and Ukraine, as well as representatives of the separatists, will also meet by Wednesday in Minsk. During her visit to the USA Chancellor Angela Merkel is also discussing the Ukraine with President Barack Obama.