Germany's Steinmeier presses for Ukraine progress on Russia visit

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier reacts at the start of the cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, May 6, 2015. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

VOLGOGRAD, Russia (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for a swift resolution to the Ukraine conflict on a visit to Volgograd on Thursday, expressing hope a peace deal agreed in Minsk would enter its "next phase".

Steinmeier's visit to the Russian city formerly called Stalingrad, where Soviet forces drove back Nazi troops in one of the bloodiest battles in history, comes days before the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe.