LONDON, March 10 -- British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have agreed on priorities of de-escalating the situation in Ukraine and cementing European Union (EU) trade relations with America and China, the British Prime Minister's Office announced Monday.

The discussions took place during a working dinner between the two leaders after they jointly opened CeBIT 2014, one of the world's largest IT fairs, in western German city of Hanover on Sunday evening, a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement.

"Their discussions focused on the situation in Ukraine, following on from last week's European Council. They both agreed that the priority is to de-escalate the situation and to get Russia to engage in a contact group as swiftly as possible," the statement said.

"They also agreed that we must keep working to support the Ukraine government, including identifying how the international community can help to stabilize the economic situation," it continued.

Moreover, the two leaders also discussed the priorities for the next European Commission, according to the statement.

"They talked about how the EU can strengthen its relations with other countries, particularly through trade and investment agreements with the United States and, in the longer term, China," the spokesperson noted.

Cameron and Merkel agreed to work together to generate more momentum on the EU-US trade talks with the aim of making "substantive progress" this year, said the spokesperson.