国际英语新闻:German FM urges parties to seize chances to resolve Ukraine crisis

BERLIN, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday that the Ukraine crisis faced crucial times and relevant parties should seize the chances of a planned summit in Minsk to resolve the crisis.

In a joint press conference with his Greek counterpart, Steinmeier said nothing was resolved yet despite a plan to hold a summit in the Belarusian capital on Wednesday as the taking place of the summit alone could not guarantee a resolution.

"All parties should know that tomorrow we will once again have a great chance to make a first and important step forward, hopefully to defuse the conflicts and to silence the weapons," he said, adding that relevant parties should "really grab the chance with both hands in the face of an impending military conflicts".

Germany is mediating a resolution to the Ukraine crisis which has killed thousands of people in the eastern part of the country, leading Europe with a stance that diplomatic solution, instead of military intervention as the United States is mulling, is the only way to end the crisis.

After a telephone conference on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko decided to hold a summit in Minsk on Wednesday.

Representatives from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and independence-seeking insurgents in eastern Ukraine would also attend the meeting.