A spokesman for Merkel, Steffen Seibert, has said today's meeting "offers a glimmer of hope, but nothing more."
Seibert said it was "uncertain whether an outcome can be reached, but despite all the uncertainty, it is worth trying in the interest of the suffering people in eastern Ukraine."
He said the talks were expected to start at 6:30 p.m. local time in Minsk (3:30 p.m. UTC).
The head of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, Oleksandr Turchynov, speaking today while visiting Ukrainian army positions near Mariupol:
"Units of the National Guard, with the special Azov battalion in the vanguard, have broken the defense of Russian terrorist groups and launched an offensive."
"We have pushed the frontier, the frontline, the contact line, the line of fighting by 20 kilometers away from our city, protecting it from artillery shelling."
The latest Daily Vertical, wherein @PowerVertical's Brian Whitmore asks what might be in store for Ukraine.
More on Lavrov's statements today:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Ukraine of seeking territorial gains in fighting against pro-Russian rebels in order to improve Kyiv's leverage during a four-nation summit on February 11 in Minsk.
Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow that there has been "notable progress" in preparations for the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Francois Hollande.
But he tried to turn the tables on Kyiv and Western governments that accuse separatists of seeking gains on the ground in what the United States has called a "Russian-backed offensive" in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, claiming it is Ukrainian forces that are trying to push forward.
He also said Ukraine must not demand control over its border with Russia in rebel-held areas as a precondition for any deal.
Poroshenko said in a statement earlier on February 11 that Ukraine demands "a cease-fire, the withdrawal of all foreign troops, and closure of the border."