Merkel calls on Russia to make visible progress on Ukraine ceasefire

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on Russia to make “visible progress” towards fully implementing the Minsk ceasefire agreement, in order to facilitate a political solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine.
Referring to preparations for a leaders’ summit next week in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, Merkel said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Berlin on Thursday: “We have to first restore trust.”
She said: “In the past there have been agreements on road maps to implement the elements of the Minsk agreement, but they have not been followed.”
Merkel criticized Russia’s reluctance to put strong pressure onto pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
She confirmed that foreign ministers from Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia were holding talks on a possible leaders summit, but underlined it was not clear whether it would take place.
“Whether we would achieve progress to enable such a meeting to take place would only be clear after the talks in the coming days,” Merkel said.