Sergei Lavrov, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Laurent Fabius, and Pavlo Klimkin are expected to focus on the implementation of the Minsk peace accords, including setting up working groups within the so-called Contact Group on Ukraine.
Steinmeier said, prior to the talks, that it was "too early to celebrate victory in Ukrainian crisis settlement despite notable progress," as infrequent violations of the ceasefire regime persist in some contested areas of eastern Ukraine.
In February, in Minsk, the group worked out a ceasefire deal later signed by Kiev and pro-independence fighters of the Donbas region. The truce included a set of measures to stop military confrontation in Ukraine's southeast.
The ceasefire that came into force on February 15 under the Minsk Agreement, is generally holding, according to international monitors in the region.
The trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprises representatives from Kiev, Moscow, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The group also works toward the reconciliation of the Ukrainian crisis, holding regular talks with representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics.
