Considerable progress has been made in the efforts to achieve peace in Donbas, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said, at the same time reiterating the need to solidify the local ceasefire.

"I need to stress that serious progress has been made recently. The ceasefire in the east of Ukraine has been holding for a longer period than previously, maybe even longer than at any point since 2014. It should be solidified and strengthened. And we are discussing how to find such a mechanism, how to track violations of the ceasefire," Maas said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Monday.

"Thanks to Ukraine's steps, we are now observing good progress as regards exchanges of captives, mine clearance, and the opening of additional crossing points," he said.

"Our impression is that, at last, initiatives are being implemented step by step. Of course, for Ukrainian citizens, this is an immensely important improvement in their day-to-day life. And our appeal is not to reduce these efforts, but to also tackle challenging political issues in Donbas, for instance the issue of holding elections in Donbas. We discussed this today, as well, and would like to make progress here," Maas said.