(VOVworld) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday that Germany and France have invited Ukraine and Russia to meet in Minsk next week to kick-start peace talks.

Foreign Ministers from Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany (Photo: VNA)

Steinmeier said he hopes the foreign ministers of the four countries could meet next Tuesday, before US President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in. It is stil unclear how Trump intends to handle the Ukraine crisis. Steinmeier said even if the meeting fails to yield any solution, it is necessary to make sure the current situation does not get out of control. Representatives of the four countries last met in the so-called 'Normandy Format' in October in Berlin, Germany. Though nothing was done to defuse the Ukraine crisis, the parties did agree to adopt a roadmap for implementing the Minsk agreement.