"We have agreed that if on this level progress is achieved in the coming days, we are ready to meet next week and continue the discussion started today," Steinmeier said after a closed-door meeting with his Russian, French and Ukrainian counterparts in Berlin on Monday.
"Differences of opinion that remain, as before, have showed how hard it is to reach progress both on the path to a political solution and on the path to a summit in Astana that many are waiting for," Steinmeier said.
Ukrainian peace talks have been held in several formats.
The "Normandy format" dates back to June 2014, when the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine met during celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the allies' Normandy landing in France to lay down a roadmap for a sustainable ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Contact Group on Ukraine, which includes representatives of Russia, the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), Kiev and the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR), has been holding meetings in the Belarusian capital Minsk.
The Minsk format talks on Ukraine have resulted in two major agreements, including a breakthrough ceasefire deal between DPR, LPR and Kiev, which launched a military operation in Ukraine's southeast last spring, amid local residents" refusal to recognize the new government that came to power as a result of a coup. Both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the Minsk ceasefire agreement, signed in September, 2014.
