CRI听力:New Minsk Peace Talks Planned over Ukraine

The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine are preparing for a possible summit in Belarus this week to discuss a new peace plan for Ukraine.

The meeting was proposed following telephone conversations among German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

However, Putin says the talks are not set in stone.

"We agreed that we will try to set up the meeting, in the same format, of the heads of states and governments in Minsk. We will be aiming for Wednesday, if by that time we are able to agree on a number of the positions that we recently have been discussing intensely."

It's being reported the leaders are going to be discussing the creation of a demilitarized zone around the current front line.

The proposed talks come amid reports the US is considering sending defensive weapons to Ukraine.

Numerous European leaders have expressed concerns about the possibility of escalating the conflict.

US Secretary of State John Kerry contends there's no divide among the allies.

"Let me assure everybody, there is no division, there is no split. I keep hearing people trying to create one. We are united, we are working closely together, we all agree that this challenge will not end through military force. We are united in our diplomacy."

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has already left over 53-hundred dead.

1.5-million others have been displaced by the fighting, which has been going for nearly a year.