German Chancellor Angela Merkel is playing down the chances of securing a truce in eastern Ukraine when she and French President Francois Hollande meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin later in the day.
“We know it is completely open whether we’ll manage to achieve a truce through these talks. We don’t know whether it will happen today or if further talks will be required. We don’t know if these will be short talks today in Moscow or long ones, or if they will be final talks,” she has told reporters in Berlin ahead of her departure.
“The situation is in flux. All we can do is apply every effort to find a solution that ends the conflict, and foremost the bloodshed.”
Merkel has also rejected claims she had raised the issue of territorial concessions, saying: “As German chancellor I would never, over the head of another country, in this case Ukraine, get involved in territorial issues.”
GNA
