German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said that the Minsk agreement can be the foundation for the settlement of the crisis in eastern Ukraine.
Minsk agreement are not ideal, but they can be a foundation on which to build, they should be implemented, he said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kyiv on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
Steinmeier said his upcoming visit to Moscow would probe the Russian readiness to honor the Minsk deal.
Tensions in eastern Ukraine have been growing for the past eight months, the German foreign minister said, adding that Ukraine was capable of restoring its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
He also hopes that the political forces which won the Verkhovna Rada elections will soon sign a coalition agreement and form a successful government.
The European Union is ready to offer a helping hand to Ukraine, which needs economic and political support, Steinmeier said. He said that a conference on international support for Ukraine could be such a mechanism.
