Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected to host Russia's Sergei Lavrov, France's Laurent Fabius and Ukraine's Pavlo Klimkin at the Foreign Ministry's guesthouse Villa Borsig, where the four top diplomats will discuss the situation in the conflict-hit eastern Ukraine.
The ministers are expected to confirm a summit meeting on Ukraine, set to take place in Kazakhstan's capital Astana on January 15-16. The Kremlin reported on Saturday that the Russian and German presidents agreed to continue Ukraine peace talks in the so-called Normandy format.
The "Normandy format" dates back to June 2014, when the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine met on the margins of the 70th anniversary of the allies' Normandy landing in France to lay down a roadmap for a sustainable ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
But on Saturday night, the German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert cited Chancellor Angela Merkel as saying she would consider going to Astana after all parties to the Minsk memorandum make progress on implementing its provisions, such as following through on the ceasefire deal.
