Steinmeier: There has been no progress towards implementing the Minsk Agreements
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated that no progress is being made towards implementing the Minsk Agreements, Reuters reported. “We should work to de-escalate the situation,” Steinmeier said. According to him, the ministers for foreign affairs of Germany, Poland and France have agreed to make more of an effort to settle the conflict in southeastern Ukraine.
Earlier, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, and the President of France, François Hollande, agreed to hold a meeting in the Normandy format at the G20 Summit in China.
The situation in the Donbas has deteriorated in the last few months. According to the United Nations, the loss of civilian lives in June and July was twice as high as in the period from September 2015 to May 2016.