BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government on Tuesday said it is very concerned about recent developments in eastern Ukraine and called on both Moscow and Kiev to work against what it called “increasing partitionist tendencies” in the embattled region.

“We are seriously concerned about increasing partitionist tendencies in the eastern Ukraine,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told a regular government news conference. “The danger of a military escalation is far from over.”

He said Berlin was urging Ukraine and Russia to live up to agreements made as part of the Minsk peace process, citing troubling actions by both sides, including the seizure of assets by Ukrainian entities in rebel-held areas, and Kiev’s decision to halt all trade with separatist areas.