German foreign minister: get Kiev, Moscow to talk

Associated Press
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during a joint news conference with Secretary of State John Kerry, after a private meeting, Thursday Feb. 27, 2014, at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's foreign minister says getting Kiev and Moscow to talk to each other is a top priority as Europe seeks a response to the crisis in Crimea, and he's arguing that an international "contact group" might be helpful.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier told ARD television Sunday that "in the end, the result must be that Russian soldiers return to their barracks." He said part of the solution could involve setting up a contact group involving European countries and perhaps the United Nations along with Russia and Ukraine.

He says the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe could be asked to put together a fact-finding mission.

Steinmeier also indicated there's division among members of the Group of Eight industrial nations over whether it would be wise to exclude Russia from the club.