Latvian minister hopes for progress on Ukraine

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said after talks in Moscow on Monday that he had heard certain ideas that provided hope of progress being made on resolving the crisis in Ukraine.

But he also warned that conflicts can be hard to end. He said the European Union would seriously consider lifting sanctions on Russia if progress was made on fulfilling agreements, including on a ceasefire, reached in the Belarussian capital Minsk four months ago.