Merkel: Putin Talks to Include Gas, Ceasefire

Posted by Joseph Keefe October 15, 2014

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that planned talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at this week's EU-Asia summit in Milan would include a range of issues related to Ukraine from the gas dispute to the ceasefire agreement.

"There are plans for such talks with the Russian president. The whole range of issues related to Ukraine - such as gas but also the Minsk agreement - will be on the agenda," Merkel told a news conference, adding that she expected a frank exchange.

The Kremlin said earlier on Wednesday that Putin could meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko together with Merkel and French President Francois Hollande during the summit of European Union and Asian leaders in Milan on Oct. 16-17.

September's accord in Minsk between Kiev, Moscow and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine secured an immediate ceasefire and established 12 points to create conditions for lasting peace, including the withdrawal of foreign fighters.

Reporting by Stephen Brown and Andreas Rinke