A meeting of Ukrainian, Russian, German and French foreign ministers scheduled in Berlin on Sunday could be a first step towards a Ukraine-Russia peace summit along the lines of one that took place in Normandy last month, the French government said on Saturday.
The French statement followed a discussion earlier in the day between President Francois Hollande and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and came after an apparent escalation of tensions between the two ex-Soviet states.
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"Both men underlined the humanitarian urgency and the needs of the population in the east of Ukraine," the statement said.
"France is ready for a new summit in the Normandy format to support the process. The meeting of French, German, Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministers planned for Sunday could be a first step towards that meeting."
