(VOVworld) – All parties involved remain different over solutions to the Ukrainian crisis ahead of a high-level meeting between Ukraine, Russia and the EU in Minsk on Tuesday.

All parties involved in the Ukrainian crisis remain different solutions over the Ukrainian crisis

Representatives from European countries expressed their desire to ease the crisis, which contradicted opinions from the US and Kiev’s administration. Appearing on German television channel ARD on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the meeting although it had been hard to reach agreement. She expressed her belief that the Ukrainian crisis could only be solved by political measures, saying that the EU and Germany insisted on their participation to reach a political agreement. Merkel dismissed any military measures and supported dialogue among all the parties.  The French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, said that France holds a firm position towards Russia over the issue of east Ukraine, but is open for dialogue. He added that Ukraine needed to establish good relations with Russia and the EU, stating that France wanted to help reduce the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine.

The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, said the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko could pave the way to solve the crisis in Ukraine and that Ukraine needs to establish a good relationship with both the EU and Russia.