A new ceasefire has been agreed in Donbas / ua.depositphotos.com
Ukraine has once again reaffirmed its full readiness to comply with the agreements reached during the Paris summit in December.
The Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on July 22 held a video conference during which the parties agreed on a new, full and comprehensive ceasefire in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.
It is to start at 00:01 Kyiv time on July 27, the press service of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's Office said in a statement on the official website on July 22.
"During today's TCG meeting, the parties, mediated by the OSCE, agreed on the implementation of measures to reinforce the ceasefire until the full settlement of the international armed conflict in Ukraine's Donbas," the statement said. "The corresponding measures were agreed at the TCG [meeting] by Ukraine and Russia and backed by the OSCE. The full and comprehensive ceasefire – if the other side abides by it – is a basic prerequisite for the fulfillment of the Minsk accords and opens the way for the implementation of other provisions of these agreements."
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Zelensky's Office says this breakthrough in the TCG's work is the result of the effective work of the Ukrainian delegation with the support of Berlin and Paris, as well as political advisers and foreign ministers in the Normandy format.
According to the statement, Ukraine has once again reaffirmed its full readiness to comply with the agreements reached during the Normandy summit in Paris in December and its adherence to the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine will facilitate and support the fulfilment of these measures, Zelensky's Office said, stressing that the complete ceasefire is a basic precondition for a political settlement.
Local elections in Russia-occupied districts in Ukraine's east are possible only under the following conditions: comprehensive de-escalation; the withdrawal of foreign military units and equipment, the disarmament of illegal armed formations; restoration of control by the Ukrainian government over the Ukrainian-Russian border. What is more, the elections must take place exclusively in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine and in compliance with the OSCE Copenhagen Document.
"As part of the [TCG's] humanitarian subgroup, the Ukrainian side, as agreed, has handed over lists of persons for mutual release and expects the same from the other side," Zelensky's Office said.