Minsk to Host Peace Talks Over Ukraine

A further round of negotiations among the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France is set to take place in Minsk on Wednesday.

German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said in a statement that the decision was made after an extensive conference call between the country representatives on Sunday, BBC reported.

A new peace plan has been proposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on Saturday, aiming at avoiding further conflicts in the area. No details have been disclosed do far.

According Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, 1,200 soldiers and 5,400 civilians have died over the course of the civil war in the country.

There is a suspicion, however, that the number of deaths is much higher, even close to 50,000 people, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted.

''If political will is used, peace in Ukraine is possible,'' France’s Defence minister Jean-Yves Le Driansaid, TASS information agency reported.''That should be done by three parties - Europe, Ukraine’s President Pyotr Poroshenko and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.''

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry's Spokesperson Alexander Lukashevich has warned the US against possible deployment of military armaments now being withdrawn from Afghanistan. This was seen as a possible cause for tension escalations in the region.

In September 2014, an official ceasefire decision was made in Minsk after diplomatic talks between representatives of the Russian government and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe /OSCE/.

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