BERLIN  - Talks between Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France produced several agreements aimed at improving security in eastern Ukraine but no deal on holding local elections in the separatist region controlled by Russia-backed rebels, a top German diplomat said Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who hosted the talks at a lakeside retreat near Berlin, said the atmosphere was better than at their last meeting in Paris but acknowledged there had been no breakthrough.
"In the area of security, we made significant progress," he told reporters, citing a plan to separate military units along the front line and to create demilitarized zones. "There were proposals from both sides with concrete coordinates and deadlines."
The parties also agreed to improve communications and to halt military training along the front lines to prevent any escalation of the conflict, he said, cautioning that the plans still have to be put into action.
Steinmeier warned earlier that the 2015 Minsk peace accord for Ukraine would be undermined if there was no progress on its implementation, and that could escalate the conflict that has already killed more than 9,300 people in two years. (AP)