国际英语新闻:Officials say new progress on Ukraine crisis resolution at sight

MUNICH, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Officials said in Munich on Saturday that a new progress on resolving the Ukraine crisis could be seen in the next few days.

In an interview with German public television ARD on the sidelines of the ongoing Munich Security Conference, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said relevant parties were working on a progress of reaching a new ceasefire in eastern Ukraine.

"We are now actually at a crossroad," he said, "The conflict parties will decide whether to further escalate the conflict, or choose the way of understanding, which means reaching a crease-fire at a first step, and then prepares the ground for a political solution in the medium-term future."

"Whether this road will be taken, it will be decided in the next two or three days," Steinmeier said.

The Munich Security Conference dedicated more than half of its agenda to the Ukraine crisis on Saturday. In a panel discussion, Ukrainian President President Petro Poroshenko said his government stood ready for a "comprehensive and immediate ceasefire".

"We should have an answer in a few hours and maybe maximum a few days," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said in a speech that Russia saw "good grounds for optimism to issue recommendations for conflict resolution".

The remarks came after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande paid a visit to Moscow on Friday to discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin ways to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine which have killed thousands of people.

In her speech in the Munich Security Conference, given almost immediately after she returned to Germany, Merkel revealed limited information about the tripartite meeting, only saying that the attempt deserved though "it is uncertain whether the talks will succeed".

The three leaders talked for five hours in Moscow in "very tough" negotiations, reported Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, without citing specific sources.

The ceasefire front line, elections in eastern Ukraine and Ukraine-Russia boarder control were among the issues discussed, according to the newspaper.

No agreement was reached, but a telephone conference was scheduled for Sunday and would be attended by Merkel, Putin, Hollande and Poroshenko to review whether it is worthwhile to continue the negotiations.

Meanwhile, German and French diplomats remained in discussions over the issue, the newspaper said.

According to a report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS on Saturday, Lavrov and Steinmeier held tete-a-tete talks for half an hour in Munich, focusing on results of the Friday Moscow meeting of leaders.