The foreign ministers of Russia and Germany, Sergei Lavrov and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, underlined the need for a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in the near future during a telephone conversation held on 18 December.
"In the development of the telephone conversation between the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine, which was held in the Normandy format on December 16, an intensive exchange of views on the current situation in Ukraine and ways to resolve the conflict in that country was continued. In this context the need to conduct the next meeting of the Contact Group in the near future and establish an internal Ukrainian domestic dialogue were underlined. Among the priorities indicated were the humanitarian needs of civilians in the conflict zone," the Russian Foreign Minister is quoted by RIA Novosti.
