Normandy quartet agrees to reinforcement of Ukraine OSCE mission

The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany agreed 24 February 2015 to seek a reinforcement of the OSCE international monitoring mission in Ukraine and renewed their calls for an oft-breached ceasefire agreement to be respected.

The three hour meeting in Paris was called in a bid to rescue an agreement the four powers had brokered in Minsk, setting out terms for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of arms in the conflict in east Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian rebels.

The Ukrainian ministry of defence stated on 26 February 2015 that it had started withdrawing heavy weapons from the front line in the east as part of the truce.

• Primary Source

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ESO: Background information: President and distinguished foreign guests took part in the March of Dignity in Kyiv http://www.europeansources.info/record/president-and-distinguished-foreign-guests-took-part-in-the-march-of-dignity-in-kyiv/

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Deutsche Welle, 02.03.15: Ukraine in appeal for international peacekeeping force http://dw.de/p/1Ejvc

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Ukraine: President: Current events, 05.03.15: President had a phone conversation with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel http://president.gov.ua/en/news/32422.html

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OSCE: Press Release, 05.03.15: Latest from the Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (SMM) based on information received from the Monitoring Teams as of 18:00hrs, 4 March 2015 http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/143866

EurActiv, 17.03.15: Steinmeier: A political solution in Ukraine could take decades http://www.euractiv.com/sections/europes-east/steinmeier-political-solution-ukraine-could-take-decades-312955

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