Steffen Seibert

The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine have agreed a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine, participants at the summit talks said on Feb. 12.
   
The deal reached after all-night negotiations in the Belarussian capital Minsk included a ceasefire that would come into effect on Feb. 15, followed by the withdrawal of heavy weapons.
   

A further round of negotiations among the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France is set to take place in Minsk on Wednesday.

German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said in a statement that the decision was made after an extensive conference call between the country representatives on Sunday, BBC reported.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone on Jan. 10 that a four-way summit to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine would not take place until there was real progress on the Minsk peace plan.
   

The German government is not planning for a Greek exit from the eurozone, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Wednesday, after Germany's Bild newspaper reported Berlin was working on contingency plans for an exit and possible run on banks.

A group of pro-Russian hackers claimed responsibility for hacking the website of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the lower house of parliament - the Bundestag on Wednesday.

The attack comes as Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is expected to arrive in Berlin on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Monday that her government had not changed its position on the desirability of a Greek exit from the euro zone, saying the policy had always been to stabilize the bloc without losing any of its members.

Ukraine’s Parliament has approved at first reading an anti-Russian sanctions package that includes 29 measures, reports RT.com. 

Some of them, including the potential ban on transit of Russian natural gas and other energy resources through Ukraine, however, could hurt the EU.

Germany took the dramatic step Thursday of asking the top U.S. intelligence official in Berlin to leave the country, following two suspected cases of American spying and the yearlong spat over eavesdropping by the National Security Agency.
     
The move reflects growing impatience in Germany at what is perceived as U.S. nonchalance about being caught spying on a close ally.

An employee of Germany's foreign intelligence service is suspected of spying for Washington on a parliamentary panel probing US surveillance, media reports said Friday.
      
The federal prosecutor general confirmed that a 31-year-old German was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of acting for a foreign intelligence service, without specifying which one.
      

Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens on Friday afternoon, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday while also expressing the German leader’s “admiration” for Greek efforts.