Moscow (AFP) - Germany's foreign minister said Tuesday he was not optimistic about an end to the conflict in Ukraine because of a \"dangerous\" escalation of fighting in the east. <\/p>\n
Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the downbeat assessment after NATO's secretary-general spoke of a \"very serious build-up\" of troops, artillery and air defence systems inside Ukraine and on the Russian side of the border. <\/p>\n
Steinmeier was the first senior European minister to visit Moscow since July, in a sign of how relations between the West and Russia have dived to a post-Cold War low over the conflict in eastern Ukraine. <\/p>\n
\"There are no grounds for optimism in the current situation,\" Steinmeier said at a press conference after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. <\/p>\n
The German minister warned of a \"dangerous situation developing\" in Ukraine, which he visited earlier in the day. <\/p>\n
He appealed to all sides to stick to the Minsk ceasefire agreement signed on September 5, which appears increasingly threadbare. <\/p>\n
Steinmeier said it would be a \"great loss\" to abandon the frequently violated ceasefire deal, which has stopped most fighting but failed to prevent frequent flare-ups at strategic locations. <\/p>\n
\"The Minsk agreements are not perfect but it is the only thing that has been supported by all the key players -- the European Union, the United States, the parties to the Ukrainian conflict and Russia,\" he said. <\/p>\n
Before Tuesday's meeting got under way, Lavrov said his government hoped \"that the 'point of no return' has not yet been crossed\" in Russia-Europe relations. <\/p>\n
-- Russia 'has a choice' -- <\/p>\n
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NATO warns of 'very serious' Russian military build-up in Ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Moscow (AFP) - Germany's foreign minister said Tuesday he was not optimistic about an end to the conflict in Ukraine because of a \"dangerous\" escalation of fighting in the east. Continue reading