Germany Warns against 'Sabotage' on Eve of Minsk Summit
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday warned all sides in the Ukraine conflict against acts of "sabotage", speaking on the eve of a planned Ukraine peace summit in Minsk.
"It wouldn't be the first time that an act of political sabotage, a targeted strike, destroys all hopes of a ceasefire," he said.
"That's why I hope that no party to the fighting pushes things to the point where an explosion of violence calls Minsk into question."
Intense fighting in Ukraine, including a rocket strike on Kiev's military headquarters in the east, killed scores of people Tuesday on the eve of the scheduled four-way peace summit.
The meeting in the Belarussian capital aims to bring together presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine and Francois Hollande of France as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"Everyone should know that tomorrow we again have a big opportunity to take a first and important step toward defusing the conflict and hopefully to silence the guns," said Steinmeier at the start of a meeting with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias in Berlin.
Germany hoped that Ukraine and Russia would "seize the opportunity" to deescalate the conflict as the situation was highly fragile and tensions had increased through the day, he said.
Despite diplomats' preparatory talks Monday evening in Berlin and Tuesday in Minsk, many questions still remained open, he said, adding that "nothing is certain yet, and holding a summit does not mean it will lead to success."
Source: Agence France Presse
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