Major news items in leading German newspapers

The following are major news items in leading German newspapers on Wednesday.

Die Welt

-- It was a severe setback to the peace plan in eastern Ukraine, after separatists have taken the strategically important city Debaltseve despite the agreed ceasefire, and fought fierce street battle with the local government soldiers. The Ministry of Defence in Kiev confirmed the extensive capture of the city and declared: "The street battles are continuing."

Sueddeutsche Zeitung

-- After negotiations on Greece's future in the euro zone quickly fell through on Monday evening, both sides still sought on Tuesday to find a compromise. "We have to unite two demands," said French Finance Minister Michel Sapin after deliberations of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels. "We need to extend the current loan program for Greece and modify it at the same time so that the election result is taken into account."

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

-- In Iraq's Anbar province, the fighters of the terrorist group Islamic State "IS" may have burned 45 people to death. Among the dead were also security forces that had fallen into the hands of the IS over the past week, said the head of the city police on Tuesday. However, the figures have not been independently verified. Enditem