Russia says Normandy FMs likely to meet on Ukraine crisis in May

Foreign ministers from the Normandy format will probably convene next month to discuss solutions to the Ukraine crisis, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said here Wednesday.

"The possibility of holding a ministerial meeting in the Normandy format in the first half of May is being considered," Zakharova said.

The spokeswoman did not reveal specific arrangements regarding the date and location of the meeting. Yet earlier Tass news agency, quoting a Russian diplomatic source, reported that the meeting would be held in Berlin on May 11.

The Normandy format is a diplomatic group of senior representatives of four countries -- France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine -- to resolve the situation in the East of Ukraine. Foreign ministers of the "Normandy Four" held a meeting on March 3, but made no progress.

Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed the necessity of settling the Ukraine crisis, as it has become one of the sources of tension in the international arena.

"The only way is to make Kiev authorities fulfill their commitments in the framework of the Minsk accords," Lavrov said at the ongoing Moscow International Security Conference.

Lavrov hoped that Western countries will exert their influence more persistently over Ukrainian authorities.

Conflicts escalated this month between the Ukrainian army and anti-government militants in Ukraine's Eastern regions, with heavy weapons being used again by both warring parties.

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Representative Martin Sajdik last week blamed both parties for violating the ceasefire regime, which was part of the Minsk accords signed in late February 2015. Endi