Hopes low for Putin talks on Ukraine, Syria in Berlin

Russia played down hopes of diplomatic progress over Ukraine at talks Wednesday between President Vladimir Putin and his German, French and Ukrainian counterparts in Berlin, where he also faced pressure over the Syrian conflict. Host Chancellor Angela Merkel said the talks -- the first four-way summit for a year -- were aimed at "offering a brutally honest assessment" of progress on implementing the frayed Minsk peace accords for Ukraine. "We do not expect any breakthroughs," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters ahead of Putin's trip, his first to the German capital since the Ukraine conflict erupted.