MOSCOW, November 18 (Sputnik) – German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says the Minsk agreement on a ceasefire in southeast Ukraine is the basis for settling the crisis and must be implemented.
"Minsk agreement remains basic reference and I urge that we keep working on its implementation," Steinmeier wrote on his Twitter account Tuesday.
The German Foreign Minister is currently visiting Kiev to meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
After his meeting with Yatsenyuk, Steinmeier told journalists that everything should be done to continue de-escalating the tension in the east of Ukraine.
"We were delighted that after the Minsk agreements a peaceful phase set in, the armed clashes there [in eastern Ukraine] decreased, and the number of deaths sank significantly. I believe that now there is a situation when we should do our utmost not to roll down to what we have already overcome", the German Foreign Minister said.
The Minsk agreement, reached on September 5 at a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine, established a ceasefire regime in southeastern Ukraine. The memorandum, which followed the agreement was signed September 19 and specified the ceasefire's implementation. However, the opposing forces, independence supporters in the southeast and the government in Kiev, have frequently accused each other of violating the regime.
After his visit to Ukraine Steinmeier will head to to Russia on Tuesday, where he will meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The ministers will discuss the Ukrainian peace plan and a range of other international issues.
