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Kiev, E. Ukraine militia agree on ceasefire starting 1500 GMT Friday

RT | September 5, 2014

Kiev officials and representatives of the two self-proclaimed republics in southeastern Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire, as the contact group met behind closed doors in Belarus.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has confirmed the ceasefire agreement on his Twitter account.

The truce agreement comes into force starting 6 pm local time (15:00 GMT).

The president has ordered to cease fire starting at the time stated in the protocol.

“I give the order to the chief of the General staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to cease fire, starting from 18.00 [local time] on September 5,” Poroshenko’s statement says.

Poroshenko then called on both the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the OSCE to provide international monitoring of compliance with the bilateral ceasefire.

“We must do everything possible and impossible to stop bloodshed and put an end to people’s suffering,” the president said in a statement posted on his official website.

Poroshenko expressed hope that both sides would comply with the ceasefire agreement.

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic earlier confirmed the ceasefire agreement on its official Twitter account.

Both Donetsk and Lugansk have said they are ready to lay down arms starting from 15:00GMT.

Representatives of the rebel forces have said they will obey the ceasefire if Kiev follows suit.

“Most of the points of the protocol correspond with our demands,” Lugansk’s leader Igor Plotnitsky said.

“However, the ceasefire does not mean a shift from our course of breaking away from Ukraine. This is a compulsory measure,” he said.

With military action continuing throughout southeastern Ukraine, the region is risking facing an imminent humanitarian catastrophe. Water and electricity supplies have been disrupted, leaving dozens of people without basic essentials. In Lugansk only one hospital appeared to be operational, the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission reported earlier this week.

Since the conflict significantly deteriorated in mid-April, 2,593 people have died in fighting in the east of the country, the UN reported last week. More than 6,033 have been wounded in the turmoil.

The number of internally displaced Ukrainians has reached 260,000, with another 814,000 finding refuge in Russia, the UN said.

The OSCE’s Heidi Tagliavini has welcomed the agreement saying “it is good news.”

She has revealed that the protocol consists of 12 points, and “the ceasefire is the chief one.”

The participants in the talks will prepare another document – a memorandum on settling the situation in Ukraine, a Donetsk representative said.

The two sides accompanied by representatives of Russia and the OSCE were meeting in the Belorussian capital, Minsk, in an attempt to end the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine.

In their recent phone call on September 3, the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, showed a willingness to find an agreement to resolve the months-long conflict in the southeastern Ukraine.

Following the conversation with his counterpart, President Putin laid out a seven-point plan that could help find a solution.

READ MORE: Putin lays out 7-step plan to stop hostilities in E. Ukraine

September 5, 2014 - Posted by aletho | Aletho News | Ukraine