Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany are meeting in Berlin to discuss efforts to end the conflict between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The talks between Foreign Ministry representatives on January 5 come ahead of a planned meeting of the leaders of the four countries on January 15.
The head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's department of politics and communications, Oleksiy Makeyev, is representing Kyiv.
Russia sent Viktor Sorokin, who heads the Foreign Ministry department responsible for relations with Ukraine.
Makeyev said on January 4 that participants would present their plans to further the implementation of an accord on a cease-fire and steps toward peace that was signed in Minsk on September 5.
Fighting has persisted despite the cease-fire and diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, which has killed more than 4,700 people since April.
