| Author (Corporate) | Deutsche Welle |
|---|---|
| Series Title | Article |
| Series Details | 12.02.15 |
| Publication Date | 12/02/2015 |
| Content Type | News |
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In negotiations which lasted nearly 17 hours in the Belarusian capital Minsk, and ended in the morning of the 12 February 2015 the Heads of State and Government of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement on a ceasefire for eastern Ukraine, to start at midnight on the 14 February 2015. In addition, a roadmap for the implementation of the Minsk agreements of September 2014 was adopted. The agreement was signed by leaders of the pro-Russian rebels and the Ukraine Trilateral Contact Group which, alongside representatives of Moscow and Kyiv, also included the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). After the negotiations, German Foreign Minister Steinmeier stated that the agreement reached were no breakthrough but that it could mark a step away from the spiral of military escalation and lead to political impetus. The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, welcomed the results of the Summit in Minsk and gave his full support to the package of measures for the implementation of the September 2014 Minsk agreements agreed by the Trilateral Contact Group. However, there were reports that around 50 tanks had entered Ukraine from Russia while the talks were going on, according to Ukraine's army. The outcome was discussed later at the informal European Council in Brussels in the evening of 12 February 2015. EU leaders gave a cautious welcome to the agreement but warned of further sanctions against Russia if it was not implemented. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was reported as saying on the 13 February 2015 that Russia was the guarantor of the Ukrainian reconciliation, not a party that needed to fulfill the Minsk agreement. |
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| Source Link | http://dw.de/p/1Ea3F |
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| Countries / Regions | Europe, France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine |
