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German foreign minister heads for Kiev, plans visiting engagement line

Sigmar Gabriel will also have talks with his counterpart Pavel Klimkin and representatives of the OSCE Monitoring Mission in east Ukraine

German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz

German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel

© AP Photo/Sait Serkan Gurbuz

BERLIN, January 3. /TASS/. Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is leaving for Ukraine on Wednesday, where he will have talks with the counterpart Pavel Klimkin and representatives of the OSCE Monitoring Mission in east Ukraine, the foreign ministry’s spokesman Rainer Breul said on Wednesday.

"Minister Gabriel will visit Kiev today, and from there tomorrow he will go to the line of engagement near Mariupol," the spokesman said. "The topics of talks with the Ukrainian government’s representatives, among others, would be the reforms, including fighting the corruption."

According to him, before the flight to Ukraine the foreign minister pointed to the aggravated situation in Donbass. "There is still too much shooting there, and still too many heavy weapons in the region," the quoted the foreign minister as saying. At the same time, the German foreign minister said, the recent exchange of prisoners in Donbass and the ceasefire agreement for the holiday season are good signs. "This is the way it should continue," Breul said.

The Foreign Ministry’s representative continued by saying, Gabriel by this visit wants to demonstrate to the Ukrainians that Germany "is not leaving them in the lurch." "We can see this conflict vital and threatening as never before," he said. "We shall continue working on settlement of that crisis.".

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