German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier held talks with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius on a number of international issues of mutual interest, the foreign ministry said in a statement. It added the top diplomats discussed the Syrian conflict, the situation in the Central African Repbulic and the African Sahel. Steinmeier and Fabius also discussed the preparations for the French-German Ministerial Council meeting, due in Paris on February 19. The meeting was held on the eve of the Geneva II conference which would be held in the Swiss city of Montreux.