Germany hosts talks on Ukraine amid tensions with Russia

BERLIN (AA) - Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany gathered in Berlin on Thursday for a new round of talks to discuss a peaceful settlement for the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Kremlin’s Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak, the Ukrainian president’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s chief foreign policy advisor Jens Ploetner, and French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne are heading the delegations of their countries in the closed-door meeting.

A previous meeting of the Normandy format group was held in Paris two weeks ago, and it was the first such meeting of the political advisors after more than a year’s break, amid growing tensions in the region.

Russia recently amassed over 100,000 troops on its western border with Ukraine, stoking fears in the West of an invasion.

Ukraine has been plagued by conflict in its eastern regions since March 2014, following Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea.