Ukraine, Separatist Rebels Sign Truce
by VOA News September 05, 2014
Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists signed an agreement on a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine starting at 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Friday.
'A preliminary cease-fire protocol has been signed in Minsk. The protocol should go into effect on Friday,' President Petro Poroshenko tweeted Friday, adding in a subsequent tweet that 'Peace is an aspiration of the entire world. Peace is an aspiration of all of Ukraine, including the millions of residents of the Donbas.'
The Donetsk People's Republic of Novorossiya also confirmed the news on their official Twitter feed, saying 'In Minsk, representatives of Ukraine, the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic have signed a cease-fire protocol (to begin at) 6:00 p.m. Friday.'
Kremlin reacts
The Kremlin welcomed the cease-fire Friday and urged all sides to observe it closely, Russian news agencies reported.
'The Russian presidential office welcomes the signing of the protocol in Minsk,' Interfax news agency quoted President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, as saying.
Noting that the agreement followed initiatives by Putin and Ukrainian President Poroshenko, he added: 'Moscow hopes all the provisions of the document and the agreements reached will be thoroughly observed by the parties and that the negotiating process will continue until the crisis in Ukraine is fully resolved.'
World of the cease-fire agreement came just hours after heavy fighting was reported in eastern Ukraine. Witnesses said Friday they heard explosions and gunfire on the eastern outskirts of the strategic port city of Mariupol, a continuation of fighting that was also reported there late Thursday. There were also reports of heavy fighting around the Donetsk airport.
What's covered in protocol
Poroshenko told reporters Friday in Newport, Wales, where he was attending the NATO summit, that the cease-fire protocol includes 12 'practical steps' for establishing 'peace and stability' in eastern Ukraine while respecting Ukraine's 'sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.'
The Ukrainian president said 'hostages' -- an apparent reference to people being held by the separatists -- should be released in the near future, possibly as soon as Saturday. He also said Kyiv would take 'significant steps' to address the concerns of residents of eastern Ukraine, including decentralizing power in the country and ensuring that any language can be used in the rebel-stronghold regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Poroshenko said he would fulfill everything that was included in a peace plan he put forward in June, including an 'amnesty.' In his peace plan, he promised amnesty to rebels who lay down their weapons and had not committed 'serious crimes.'
In his comments Friday, the Ukrainian president did not mention Putin's call in his 7-point plan for a pullback of government forces from population centers in eastern Ukraine, presumably leaving the rebels in control of the territory. Many analysts have said Kyiv would be unlikely to accept this, viewing it as a surrender.
Obstacles
In another sign of possible obstacles to a lasting peace, the leader of the separatists' self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, Igor Plotnitsky, said Friday that the cease-fire did not mean the separatists were abandoning their plans to split off from Ukraine.
The rebellion in eastern Ukraine, launched in April by pro-Russian separatists, has killed more than 2,600 people and created tens of thousands of refugees fleeing areas near the Russian border.
Both Ukraine and NATO say rebels have made rapid advances in recent days, and accuse Moscow of providing direct help to separatists battling Ukraine forces in the Russian-speaking east.
Russia has consistently denied the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine, while rebel leaders say they have been helped by Russian soldiers who have used their vacation time to battle Ukrainian troops on Ukrainian soil.
Some material for this report provided by Reuters
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
