The foreign ministers of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine are hopeful that the trilateral Contact Group for Ukraine will meet soon, after which the ministers would hold another meeting to discuss a date for a possible "Normandy format" summit in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after a "Normandy format" ministerial meeting in Berlin.

"There is an understanding that after the Contact Group's meeting, which, we hope, will take place within the next few days, the "Normandy format" ministers will meet again and will discuss the prospects for a possible summit in Astana and its date," Lavrov said..

According to Lavrov, in their joint statement adopted after the Berlin meeting, the ministers call on the trilateral Contact Group to meet in the coming days with the aim of further moving toward the full implementation of the Minsk agreements, which request the creation of an environment conducive to an effective ceasefire, agreements on all aspects of humanitarian aid deliveries and further POW exchanges.

"The ministers believe that it will help create conditions for preparing a successful summit in Astana. We agreed that this work should continue," the Russian minister said.