German FM: Ukraine cease-fire must be 'consolidated'

ANKARA 

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Saturday that the cease-fire, which has been upheld for two weeks in eastern Ukraine, needed to be “further consolidated”.

Steinmeier met Saturday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and the head of French diplomacy Laurent Fabius in Berlin to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine. 

"We all reaffirmed that the cease-fire which has been kept for two weeks now needs to be further consolidated and secured," Steinmeier told reporters after the meeting. 

Steinmeier emphasized on the withdrawal of weapons from the conflict area and said that Kiev and Moscow were close to reaching an agreement on the withdrawal of weapons under the mediation of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

He said that small arms and tanks should be withdrawn as soon as possible and that the foreign ministers had agreed that mines be cleared.

"Significant progress had been made today regarding the political process as well," said Steinmeier, adding that the planned local elections, which will be held on October 25 in Ukraine, also will be discussed in working group.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will meet on Oct. 2 in Paris, France to discuss efforts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.

The February Minsk cease-fire agreement includes the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from combat areas, as well as all foreign-armed groups. However, the agreement has failed to be fully implemented, with daily reports of breaches and clashes in the region.

More than 6,000 people have lost their lives and 1.4 million people were internally displaced in the conflict between Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian separatists since April 2014, according to the UN.