The fulfillment of the Minsk agreements for eastern Ukraine is the only way to resolve this conflict; there is no military solution to it, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said.

Further confrontation will not help resolve this conflict, which has no military solution but only a solution based on European values; there is a roadmap called the Minsk agreements, Steinmeier said at the Eighth Kyiv Security Forum on Friday.

The minister called on the conflicting sides to continue negotiations. It takes three sides to do this work, Steinmeier said, lauding assistance from the OSCE.

The OSCE is trying to help resolve the Shyrokyne and Donetsk airport situation with ceasefire proposals, but the truce is being marred day after day. Working groups will converge in Minsk on June 2 to discuss security, humanitarian and economic matters. Rapid progress is needed, the minister said.

The restoration of infrastructures is definitely important, but it is much more significant to honor the ceasefire regime, to pull heavy armaments back from the contact line and to restore control over the border, Steinmeier said.

He also stressed the importance of the ongoing dialogue with the Donbas public. Steinmeier said that everything they did they did for the people of Ukraine, they trusted the Ukrainian government with reforms and told Russia that the international sanctions were linked to the fulfillment of the Minsk agreements. Europe is a partner of Ukraine in every format, including the Normandy one, the foreign minister stated.