Ceasefire in Ukraine to Begin Midnight February 15 - Putin

  12 February 2015    Read: 1147
Ceasefire in Ukraine to Begin Midnight February 15 - Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that parties of Normandy quartet have reached an agreement on ceasefire in Ukraine starting midnight Februaty 15.

"This was the best night of my life. But the morning was good regardless of all the difficulties in the negotiation process and we were able to agree on the important thing," Putin told journalists in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.

Kiev refuses to negotiate with the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, Russian President Vladimir Putin said adding that the parties have not agreed on the document on the Ukraine reconciliation yet.

"Why did the talks last so long? I think this, unfortunately, is because the Kiev authorities rejected direct contacts with the representatives from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s republics," Putin said.

Following the Normandy format talks on Ukraine, the document containing practical measures aimed at implementing the Minsk agreements was signed by the Contact Group, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"One document was signed just now. The document was signed by the Contact Group, it is called ‘The package of measures aimed at implementing the Minsk agreements`… The second document is not for signatures — this is a statement of French, Ukrainian presidents, your faithful servant, and German Chancellor saying that we support this process," Putin said.

Earlier today Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that so far there is “no good news” coming from the reconciliation talks on the Ukrainian crisis in Minsk, but there is some hope, Agence France-Presse reported Thursday.

“Unfortunately there isn’t any good news. So far no news, but there is hope,” Poroshenko said, citing several “unacceptable conditions” set forth from the Russian side.

Participants of the Normandy format meeting — Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel – have been in talks for more than 13 hours in the Belarusian capital Minsk to hammer out a deal on the Ukrainian crisis.

Members of the Contact Group, comprising envoys from Kiev, Moscow, the Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics, as well as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have also been holding talks in Minsk since Tuesday.

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