French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to rapidly implement measures agreed under the Feb.12 Minsk ceasefire, Hollande's office said in a statement.
Germany formally protested to Russia on Monday over Moscow's refusal to let a conservative German lawmaker into the country, a decision the Foreign Ministry criticized as unacceptable amid East-West tensions over the Ukraine crisis.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will discuss the Ukraine crisis and other global conflicts on Tuesday in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, RIA news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's popularity has dropped abruptly in the wake of an unfolding spying scandal and she has slipped from the top spot among Germany's leading politicians, ARD television network said on Friday.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government and leaders of Germany's powerful regions agreed on Friday to speed up processing of asylum applications but put off a decision on increasing support for towns and cities struggling with a surge in refugees.
Germany's top public prosecutor will look into accusations that the country's BND foreign intelligence agency violated laws by helping the United States spy on officials and firms in Europe, including Airbus group, the federal prosecutors office said.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday he was confident of an early deal with international creditors, after shaking up his negotiating team and sidelining his outspoken finance minister who has infuriated euro zone partners.
The European Union proposed doubling the size of its Mediterranean search and rescue operations on Monday, as the first bodies were brought ashore of some 900 people feared killed in the deadliest shipwreck while trying to reach Europe.
Thousands of people marched in Berlin, Munich and other German cities on Saturday in protest against a planned free trade deal between Europe and the United States that they fear will erode food, labor and environmental standards.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier dismissed on Sunday calls from the radical Left party to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to this year's summit of the Group of Seven industrial powers.
Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will visit Germany's Holocaust memorial on Tuesday on the second day of his visit to the country that his radical leftist government has demanded pay World War Two reparations, his office said on Monday.
The British, French and German foreign ministers are due to meet Iranian nuclear negotiators in Lausanne on Saturday, European diplomatic sources told Reuters, adding that a final decision would depend on talks among officials on Friday.
Europe will not lift sanctions on Russia imposed over the Ukraine crisis until the conditions of the Minsk ceasefire deal have been met, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday before EU leaders discuss the issue at a summit in Brussels.
Muslim women teachers can wear headscarves as long as it does not cause disruption in school, Germany's top court said in a ruling that overturns an earlier ban and may fuel debate about what some nationalist groups see as creeping "Islamization".
Germany dismissed on Wednesday Greek demands to pay World War Two reparations after leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Berlin of using legal tricks to avoid paying compensation for the Nazi occupation of his country.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, referring to Germany's own experience, reminded Japan on Monday of the need to squarely confront its wartime past but also signaled that neighboring countries must do their part to achieve reconciliation.
The leaders of Russia, Germany and France agreed to Ukraine's proposal to ask the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to help with the implementation of the ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine, officials said after a four-way phone call on Monday evening.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday additional sanctions against Russia are "teed up" should events in eastern Ukraine warrant them, and he suggested a decision may come soon.
European Union leaders are discussing possible further sanctions to penalize Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Friday.
Germany condemned the seizure of a strategic east Ukrainian town by pro-Russian rebels on Wednesday as a "massive violation" of a ceasefire, but said it was too early to call the broader Minsk peace plan dead or ratchet up sanctions against Moscow.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on concrete steps with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to allow the OSCE to observe the situation in eastern Ukraine given the fragility of the agreed ceasefire, a German government spokesman said on Tuesday after the three leaders held a conference call.
