Ukraine's gov't, self-defense agree ceasefire till June 27
23 June 2014, 21:01 -- The Ukrainian government and eastern militias agreed on Monday to a ceasefire, which will be in effect until 10 am on June 27 The former Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, was speaking at a briefing after peace talks in Donetsk in which he had represented the government, Interfax reports.
The leadership of the Donetsk People's Republic hopes talks on a peaceful settlement of the conflict will start before June 27. Alexander Borodai, prime minister of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, said on Rossiya 24 television.
'The ceasefire deadline remains the same, 10 am, June 27. We would like to say that a monitoring regime will be organized by the Russian side and on the part of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. We hope that all through the ceasefire period both sides will manage to come to terms and start consultations on how the talks on a peaceful settlement of the conflict will proceed,' Borodai said.
He also said that the militia is ready to stop fighting in response to a similar move by the Ukrainian side. 'In response to a ceasefire by Kiev, we pledge to stop fighting on our part,' Borodai said.
The leader of the Southeast group, Oleg Tsaryov, said peace negotiations in Donetsk on Monday between Ukraine's government and eastern Ukrainian militias would be followed by repeated.
'We suggested to the Ukrainian representatives that the next round of negotiations should be held in Slavyansk,' Tsaryov told reporters.
The Russian ambassador to Ukraine, Mikhail Zurabov, expressed the hope that militia leaders in eastern Ukraine would be willing to hold more negotiations to settle their conflict with the government after Monday's talks in Donetsk.
'We expect that the representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk work some more on their position shortly and tell us that they stand ready for further consultations to solve two problems: first of all, achieving a sustainable truce and sustainable peace, the non-resumption of fire and second, launching an inclusive negotiation process,' Zurabov told Russia's television.
Heidi Tagliavini, a spokeswoman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission to Ukraine said the body would continue searching for its team that went missing in Donetsk region. The OSCE is helping settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine but needs to be sure its people are safe, the spokeswoman said.
Three-party talks on resolving Ukraine's crisis begin in Donetsk
Representatives of Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Russia have begun multilateral talks at the Donetsk regional state administration.
The talks involve Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, representative for the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) chairman-in-office Tagliavini, Ukraine's second president Kuchma, Ukrainian Choice movement leader Medvedchuk, DPR Prime Minister Borodai, South-East movement leader Tsaryov and representatives of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic.
Solution to Ukraine's crisis to be sought at three-party meeting
Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko's office said a 'trilateral contact group' representing Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was due to meet on Monday to ponder guidelines for implementing Poroshenko's plan for settling the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.
'It is expected that Heidi Tagliavini, special representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office, and [Russian Ambassador to Ukraine] Mikhail Zurabov will take part in the negotiations in Donetsk. The second Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, will take part in the meeting at the request of the head of state,' the president's office said in a statement.
Poroshenko met with the three negotiators in Kiev before their departure for Donetsk.
'Leonid Kuchma's participation reflects the Ukrainian president's high attention to this mission,' the statement quoted Poroshenko as saying.
The statement mentioned that the trilateral group had its first meeting on June 8. Former ambassador to Germany Pavel Klimkin, who has recently been appointed as Ukraine's foreign minister, represented Ukraine at the meeting, held in Kiev.
'At the behest of the head of state, Pavel Klimkin will present the president's peace plan for the settlement of the situation in the east of the country at a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg today,' the statement said, Interfax reports.
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