Geneva: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is heading to Switzerland, the head of European security body the OSCE, for talks on the Ukraine crisis, the Swiss government said Thursday.
The Swiss government said in a statement that Steinmeier would meet on Friday with Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter in the capital Bern.
"The goal of this meeting between the OSCE president and the German foreign minister is to take stock of the Ukrainian crisis," it said, adding that a joint statement was expected after the one-day meeting.
Neutral Switzerland currently holds the annually-rotating presidency of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and has been striving to defuse Ukraine`s spiralling crisis.
Germany has been pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin to help free an OSCE team of international observers held by pro-Moscow rebels in Ukraine.
