You're reading: Russia, Germany hoping for positive outcome of Minsk talks

Moscow - High-ranking Russian and German diplomats have expressed the hope that the talks in Minsk will yield positive results.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and the German
Foreign Ministry’s State Secretary Markus Ederer spoke by telephone on
July 30, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“The diplomats discussed the developments in the internal Ukrainian
crisis, the need for international efforts to end the bloodshed and
launch a constructive dialogue between Kyiv and east Ukraine, with the
aim to search for mutually acceptable solutions both for the Ukrainians
and the international community,” the ministry said on its Web site.

“The diplomats expressed their shared hope that the July 31 meeting
in Minsk of representatives of the Kyiv authorities and militias from
the South-East, with participation of the OSCE (Organization and
Security and Co-operation in Europe) and Russia, will bring about
positive results,” the statement said. “The issues that remain key on
the agenda are a ceasefire in at least the airliner’s crash area and the
beginning of a dialogue over the implementation of the decisions
contained in this year’s April 17 Geneva Statement and July 2 Berlin
Declaration,” the statement said.