Much work needed to improve Ukraine ceasefire, says Germany

Steinmeier, who visits Ukraine next week in an effort to arrange a new high-level meeting between Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia, voiced dissatisfaction over slow progress to resolve the conflict in which more than 9,500 people have been killed. "I think everyone involved ... isn't and can't be satisfied with the implementation of the Minsk agreement," Steinmeier told reporters, referring to a peace accord brokered by leaders of the countries in the Belarussian capital in 2015. "We have experienced long periods of standstill and when progress has been made, it has been in millimeters. None of us ... can allow or see any benefit in standing on the spot when it comes to implementing the agreement," he said after meeting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin. Steinmeier travels to Ukraine next week with his French counterpart to discuss if, and when, a new round of high-level talks among the four powers can be arranged, according to Reuters.