Council of Europe welcomes Ukrainian ceasefire agreement with caution

The Council of Europe welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire agreement in eastern Ukraine on Thursday with a degree of caution, underlining that there remains much still to do.

"Today's agreement offers a basis for an effective ceasefire, but it is clear that much remains to be done," declared the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, following the announcement of an agreement made on Thursday in Minsk on the withdrawal of heavy arms and a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine as of this weekend.

"I hope the agreement can pave the way for a political solution through a constitutional reform process," he said.

He praised German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, along with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine, for doing "everything possible" to reach the agreement.

Anne Brasseur, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), declared: "This is an encouraging sign of a possible resolution to the crisis in the country, even though major hurdles remain."

"I warmly, but cautiously, welcome today's announcement of a ceasefire (agreement) in eastern Ukraine," she said, while still calling for all the involved parties to take responsibility in order to put into place and preserve the agreement. "Above all, the violence must stop."

Brasseur took the opportunity to affirm that the Council of Europe and its assembly would continue to support the Ukrainian authorities "in their efforts to implement these indispensable and urgent reforms." Enditem