Russia and Germany hold talks on Crimea tensions

Amid rising tensions over Crimea, Germany and Russia’s top diplomats have held talks in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. <br /><br /> Calling for calm, Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier insisted the 2015 Minsk deal had to remain the focus of the Ukraine peace process. <br /><br /> Insisting it would fulfill its side of the bargain, Russia’s Sergei Lavrov said Kyiv had to also honour its obligations. <br /><br /> Russia recently bolstered its military forces in Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014. <br /><br /> Last week, President Vladimir Putin threatened a ‘very serious’ response after Moscow accused Kyiv of sending agents to kill two Russian servicemen in Crimea, something the Ukrainian government denied. <br /><br /> In response, Ukraine put its troops on high alert, reinforcing its de facto border with Crimea as well as its frontline with pro-Russian separatists in control of Donetsk and Luhansk which has also seen a spike in violence.<br />