Germany's Merkel willing to meet Putin on Ukraine but needs progress

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a speech at the Day of German Industry 2016 conference in Berlin, Germany, October 6, 2016. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is willing to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine crisis but no meeting has been set and progress needs to be made on the peace process, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday.

"It remains the case that the chancellor is ready for such a meeting if the opportunity for progress arises, if we can make progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreement in the interests of the people in eastern Ukraine," Seibert said.