German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she remains open to meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin next week for a summit on the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.
"We are still open to this, but there is no decision yet," Merkel told a news conference in Berlin on October 14.
Merkel said she was waiting for news from ongoing discussions at the expert level on the issues involved.
Pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian military began fighting in eastern Ukraine in mid-2014. Two cease-fire deals, signed by representatives of Ukraine and Russia in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, have largely failed.
The Kremlin recently proposed an October 19 meeting on the issue between Merkel, Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and French President Francois Hollande, but the meeting has not been confirmed.
Putin has not visited Germany since the beginning of the conflict.
Merkel met Putin in Moscow in May 2015 for the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The German chancellor has telephoned Poroshenko, Putin, and Hollande in recent days about the possibility of hosting talks.
