Merkel suggests high level meeting over Ukraine

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday in what she described as her "farewell visit" to Kyiv as Germany's leader.

The two leaders discussed peace efforts in eastern Ukraine, where Kyiv's forces have been fighting Russian-backed separatists since 2014, issues related to the Nord Stream 2 pipe line, and reforms in Ukraine.

After meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, Merkel made it clear that she hasn't given up hope of progress on the long-stalled efforts to bring peace to eastern Ukraine, where the fighting has killed more than 14,000 people over the past seven years.

Germany and France have worked to help broker a peaceful settlement to the conflict, including a since-violated 2015 ceasefire agreement reached in Minsk, Belarus.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Zelenskyy on Sunday, Merkel advocated working to bring about a meeting at leadership level between Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France on the situation in eastern Ukraine, the first since 2019.

"That in my opinion would bring us progress, if we can work out a good agenda - our advisers should do that," she said. "I am glad that President Zelenskyy is prepared to do this; we spoke about this," she Merkel said.

Merkel's trip to Kyiv came two days after she went to Moscow to meet Putin.

The chancellor is not running in Germany's national election next month and is nearing the end of her almost 16-year-long leadership of Germany.

It's not clear exactly when she will step down, however, because Germany's outgoing government will remain in place until a new one is formed after the election.