BERLIN, January 5 (Sputnik) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Berlin on January 8, a government spokesperson said on Monday.
"The discussions will focus on bilateral issues, particularly foreign and European policy topics, such as relations with Russia and the development in Ukraine," Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
Meanwhile, foreign ministers of the so-called Normandy format have convened behind closed doors in Berlin earlier on Monday to discuss the Ukrainian crisis.
4 January 2015, 16:02 GMT
Talks on Ukrainian reconciliation have used four formats, with the Normandy format announced by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to take place on January 15 in the Kazakh capital of Astana. Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine have expressed confidence that progress will be achieved during the talks.
The Normandy format was established and named in early June 2014 when leaders of the four countries met at a World War II commemoration ceremony in Normandy in northern France.
