Normandy Four reaffirms commitment to Minsk ceasefire agreement on Ukraine

Published time: April 13, 2015 22:22

The foreign ministers of the Normandy Four group have reaffirmed their commitment to the Ukraine peace accords and discussed both the existing progress and the further steps required to ensure a long-standing ceasefire.

The ministers have urged the contact group to create four working blocs to better observe the implementation of the deal, Russia’s FM Sergey Lavrov told journalists after the meeting.

Lavrov pointed out that all his colleagues supported the Minsk deal and declared the necessity of a “complete” ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, in addition to the withdrawal of heavy weapons.

An OSCE initiative that calls for more types of weapons to be withdrawn from the demarcation line, in particular weapons with a “caliber less than 100 mm,” as well as tanks, was also supported by the Normandy Four, Lavrov added.

“We have also highlighted the need for the Minsk agreement to be observed in its full capacity, not only its military aspect, but also its political, economic and humanitarian [aspects],” Lavrov added.

The so-called Normandy-4 group of foreign ministers from France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine met on Monday in Berlin to review the Minsk ceasefire agreement which has generally been holding up. The four gathered to assess progress in the context of the peace deal, which was brokered in the Belarusian capital on February 12. The ceasefire agreement included the pullback of heavy weaponry from the frontline by both sides in the conflict and the establishment of a security zone separating them.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire with its special mission stationed in eastern Ukraine. On Sunday, OSCE monitors reported “renewed fighting” near Shirokyno, which is located close to the front line. The mission said that it heard a tank round being fired “from government-controlled territory.”

It added that the mission’s monitors in Mariupol heard “intermittent to heavy mortar fire” in the area, and “saw flashes indicative of such fire from that area.”

Since the start of Kiev’s military operation in eastern Ukraine a year ago, over 6,100 people have died while nearly have been 15,500 injured, according to a report released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Monday.

Source: RT