German Chancellor Angela Merkel greets the Greens and FDP | Felipe Trueba/EPA Merkel launches pre-coalition talks with liberals and Greens Conservative and Free Democrat politicians say they are satisfied with the ‘constructive’ discussions.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel launched exploratory talks with the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens, separately, on Wednesday as her conservative party seeks to form a new government.

These talks are considered the precursor to formal negotiations, in which Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU bloc is expected to try to form a coalition government with the other two parties, following the September 24 election. Therefore no concrete policies or prospective ministerial positions were discussed Wednesday.

The FDP and Greens are scheduled to hold discussions together Thursday before all of the parties meet for the first time together on Friday.

"Our clear goal is in the end to have a good government for our country. To do so, we need mutual understanding." — Peter Tauber

If the parties agree to start formal coalition talks, these discussions could still take weeks to reach an agreement.

Leaders of the conservative and liberal parties expressed optimism after their talks Wednesday. The Greens began their discussions with Merkel's bloc later in the afternoon.

CSU Secretary-General Andreas Scheuer told German media that the talks were "constructive" as well as "sympathetic and characterized by mutual respect and joy." Scheuer added that his party was "very happy that things have finally started up."

The FDP's secretary-general, Nicola Beer, described the atmosphere as "matter-of-fact and solution-oriented."

Peter Tauber of Merkel's CDU party said it was the "first, constructive exchange" between the parties. "Our clear goal is in the end to have a good government for our country. To do so, we need mutual understanding," he said.

"There are big challenges that we and our country are facing," he added.

Before the talks began, FDP leader Christian Lindner contradicted Merkel's assertion that the first discussions were not about policy, tweeting that "migration, Europe, energy, [tax] relief and education" were on the table. In an interview published the day before, Lindner also insisted that Merkel's CDU should not end up with the finance ministry after coalition discussions.