France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia FMs to meet in Paris

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia are set to hold talks next week in Paris over the crisis in eastern Ukraine, the French foreign ministry said Wednesday.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will “discuss the situation in the east of Ukraine with his counterparts from Ukraine, Russia and Germany,” his office said in a statement, adding the negotiations would take place on Tuesday.
The meeting comes as a fresh diplomatic push Tuesday failed to provide a breakthrough and Ukraine reported the death of two soldiers.
Ukraine government officials met pro-Russian separatists in European-mediated talks in Minsk but a rebel negotiator said the meeting was inconclusive.
“We have made certain positive steps, but unfortunately, this is not [the outcome] we had hoped for,” Denis Pushilin told reporters.
“We are not satisfied with the current rate of progress,” said Pushilin. “With progress like this, the chances of a complete political settlement of the conflict are in grave doubt.”
The crisis in eastern Ukraine has claimed nearly 6,500 lives, driven more than a million people from their homes and pushed relations between Russia and the West to lows not seen since the Cold War.