Russia and Germany have different ideas about the possible deployment of a peacekeeping mission to the conflict area in Donbas, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said.

"[The sides'] ideas [concerning peacekeepers' deployment to Donbas] differ heavily," Gabriel told reporters in Minsk on Friday.

The sides need to work to meet each other halfway, he said.

Achieving a lasting ceasefire in Donbas remains an important task, he said.

"After we saw that neither side is complying with the ceasefire, we realized that we could decide to deploy the blue helmets. Russia had rejected this idea for a very long time, and only recently, during the UN General Assembly session, did the Russian president propose sending such a mission," he said.

"I am deeply convinced that it is important today to try to determine common conditions and a clear mandate for such a peacekeeping mission, which could monitor the ceasefire together with the OSCE. It could do so not only for a couple of hours during the day but also at night, when most ceasefire violations occur," Gabriel said.

"It will be possible to start rebuilding Donbas if [such an agreement] is reached," he said.