"In the current situation it would be helpful, if there could be such an area, where none of the parties are allowed to launch aerial attacks, that is to say, a kind of no-fly zone," she told the daily Stuttgarter Zeitung, when asked about opening up such areas to host people fleeing fighting in the war-torn country.
She acknowledged that it was impossible to negotiate with "terrorists from the Islamic State", "but if it's possible for the anti-Assad coalition and the Assad-supporters to come to an agreement, that would be helpful."
Top diplomats from world powers agreed at talks in Munich last Friday on a "nationwide cessation of hostilities" within a week, in the latest bid to find an end to Syria's five-year conflict.
But doubts are growing over whether the deal can be honoured, as Turkey has defied international calls and shelled parts of northern Syria for a third day today, while a suspected Russian air strike killed nine people at a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders in the north-western part of the country.