Senior Russian, German envoys agree to Ukraine talks

Senior representatives of both the German and Russian governments have signalled their intention to meet in early January, reported dpa.

They want to discuss the Ukraine conflict, dpa learned from German government circles on Friday.

Jens Ploetner, foreign policy advisor to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Russia's Ukraine negotiator Dmitri Kozak agreed to meet in person during a telephone conversation on Thursday.

During the conversation, Ploetner renewed German calls for the de-escalation of tensions both in Ukraine and along its border with Russia and stressed the need for parties to re-engage with the so-called Normandy format, a series of Franco-German mediated talks aimed at achieving peace in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Scholz spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone for the first time since taking office, and their discussion included a return to the Normandy format.

The four-way talks between Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France have been taking place since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict in 2014. The last summit took place in Paris at the end of 2019, though the agreements reached there have yet to be implemented.

A Russian troop build-up near the Ukrainian border has been causing concern among the international community for weeks. Russia has demanded "security guarantees" from the West, which include a categorical guarantee from NATO that Ukraine will not join the military alliance.