Reuters: Germany urges Russia and Ukraine to ease tension over Crimea, keep talking

Germany's foreign minister urged Russia and Ukraine on August 15 to reduce tensions over Crimea and stick to the troubled Minsk peace accords as a way of ending hostilities in eastern Ukraine. The minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said he was worried about rising tensions between Moscow and Kyiv after President Vladimir Putin last week accused Ukraine of using terrorist tactics to try to provoke a new conflict over annexed Crimea. Ukraine flatly denied this.