Discussions about the preparation "of a wished for and hopefully happening summit in Minsk on Ukraine are continuing today", German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told reporters in Brussels at the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers Monday.
"We hope that the remaining open points will be at least clarified to a degree that will allow for a promisingly successful meeting in Minsk and provide the first steps for de-escalation and a return to ceasefire," he said.
"I want to repeat that nothing is yet for sure, we are working with all our energy and we have used in the best possible way discussion opportunities on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to increase the success prospects," he added.
On his part, Josأ© Manuel Garcia-Margallo Y Marfil, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, said the EU ministers are studying the implementation of economic sanctions on Russia because we are facing an extremely serious situation.
"This is the last chance to reach an agreement with every part involved in the conflict, this is the last chance before we see a new scenario with more sanctions, that will have a high cost for everybody," he said.
"The EU has lost 21,000 million euros in exports, in particular for us, Spain, it has affected our Agro-Food exports and the tourism sector," he said.
"We could consider what was discussed in Munich by some American senators of giving arms to the Ukrainian army, would mean an escalation of violence with consequences that we can't predict. In both cases what we would find would be a new Cold War," he added.
Source: KUNA