Foreign ministers of Visegrad Group and Germany say diplomatic solution must prevail in Ukraine

The foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group states and Germany have stressed the need for a diplomatic solution to prevail in Ukraine. At the meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that while certain progress had been made in fulfilling the conditions of the Minsk peace deal there were still groups violating the ceasefire agreement. All parties involved must avoid actions which could result in a fresh escalation of violence, the German foreign minister stressed. The foreign ministers likewise discussed the EU’s Eastern partnership programme for six post-Soviet bloc countries including Ukraine. Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek noted that in the light of the Ukraine developments this programme has acquired even greater significance.