German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on Monday for Hamas to "immediately" stop rocket fire on Israel, as diplomatic efforts to halt a flare-up of violence around Gaza intensified.

"Firing rockets on Israel by Hamas should stop immediately," Steinmeier told a joint news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh in Amman.

The German government said Monday it had no information on whether the Berlin CIA station chief it ordered out of the country last week had left yet.

Germany made the shock decision Thursday to kick out the U.S. spy chief in the country after two alleged German double agents working for the United States were unmasked.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed in talks in Brazil on Sunday that the situation in Ukraine, where Kiev is continuing an offensive against pro-Russian separatists in the east, is "deteriorating," the Kremlin said.

"Putin and Merkel had a constructive, very thorough dialogue during which they discussed in detail possible options for resolving the situation in Ukraine," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told the Russian news agency Ria Novosti. "The two leaders agreed that unfortunately the situation is deteriorating."

Italy's foreign minister will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the coming days as part of European efforts to stem an escalating conflict in Gaza that has killed 166 people.

Federica Mogherini, who is seen as a possible candidate to replace Catherine Ashton as the next European Union foreign policy chief, will be traveling to the region on Tuesday.

Germany and the United States sought Sunday to restore vital ties badly frayed by a spying row which led to the expulsion of the CIA station chief in Berlin.

Secretary of State John Kerry emerged from talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier to offer reassurances that the two vital transatlantic allies remain "great friends".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he will discuss an international push for a ceasefire in Gaza with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his German and French counterparts during talks in Vienna on Sunday.

Hague said in a statement on Saturday that the discussions on ending the hostilities between Israel and Gaza would take place on the sidelines of talks on Iran's nuclear program in the Austrian capital.

Chancellor Angela Merkel lamented on Saturday the breakdown in trust between Germany and the United States amid a spying row that saw the CIA chief in Berlin expelled from the country.

"The thing we always have to keep in mind when we are working together is if the person across the table is possibly working at the same time for someone else, that for me isn't a trusting relationship," she told German ZDF television in a pre-recorded interview.

The United States on Friday hinted at clear displeasure with Germany over its handling of a spying row, which saw the CIA chief in Berlin thrown out of the country.

The White House also rejected suggestions the showdown over apparent US recruiting of double agents could damage broader ties with the Berlin government and cooperation on issues like Ukraine.

Germany's top diplomat said Friday he would urge a revived U.S. partnership based on "trust and mutual respect" in talks with his American counterpart after Berlin's expulsion of a CIA station chief in a spying row.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he would tackle the diplomatic fallout from the latest twist in a more than year-long rift with the U.S. over surveillance when he meets U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for weekend talks on Iran.

Britain and Germany's foreign ministers will join U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Vienna this weekend to seek to bridge what Washington called "significant gaps" in ongoing nuclear talks with Iran, London and Berlin said Friday.

The negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, which last week entered the final straight, are aimed at forging a lasting deal with Iran meant to ease fears that the Islamic state might develop nuclear weapons.