Merkel regrets ceasefire in Ukraine ended, hopes to find diplomatic solution to crisis
2 July 2014, 17:29 -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on a joint press conference with NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Wednesday that it is necessary not to stop efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis. Merkel said that it was 'very regrettable' that the temporary ceasefire proclaimed by the Ukrainian president Poroshenko had not ended the violence.
'We will not ease up... in looking for diplomatic solutions to the conflict,' she said. 'But we are still a long way from where we would like to be.'
'The situation in Ukraine is of great concern to all of us and it is unfortunate that during the 10-day unilateral... ceasefire proclaimed by the Ukrainian president there was no significant reaction to the peace plan,' she added, AFP reports.
Chancellor Merkel expressed hope that NATO will resume comprehensive cooperation with Russia in the future.
'I regret that cooperation with Russia has been restricted and suspended because contacts with Russia are very important,' she said.
Meanwhile, Germany's foreign minister said that a ceasefire was a condition for resolving the Ukraine crisis.
'Only when the guns fall silent, only on the basis of a robust ceasefire, are negotiations on resolving the crisis imaginable,' Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement before meeting his French, Ukrainian and Russian counterparts in Berlin.
Merkel, Rasmussen meet in Berlin to discuss crisis in Ukraine and NATO's summit in Wales
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will meet in the German capital on Wednesday to discuss the preparation for NATO summit and Ukrainian crisis. The NATO Secretary-General will also meet with top German officials to discuss NATO's military exercises on the eastern borders of the bloc.
'The talks will focus on preparations for a summit of the North Atlantic Alliance. The impact of the Ukrainian crisis on NATO, as well as a transition from the mission of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan to the 'Resolute Support' concept will be important subjects of discussion,' an official at the Federal Chancellor's Office said.
The NATO Secretary-General will also meet with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic, and FRG Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen. They are expected to discuss, among other things, cooperation with the FRG within the framework of the alliance in the military sphere, including that in the holding of exercises on the eastern borders of the bloc.
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