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Ukraine reports first shooting-free day since start of conflict

Xinhua, September 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said here Friday that a truce between his government' s troops and independence-seeking insurgents has resulted in the first day free of shooting since the conflict in eastern regions erupted in April 2014.

"Today is the first day in a year and a half, when there were no shooting and combat casualties in the past 24 hours," Poroshenko said at the 12th Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference in Kiev.

The insurgent leadership has confirmed that there were no ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Lugansk regions over the past 24 hours.

Later in the day, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who is Kiev's representative at the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine crisis, said that the cessation of hostilities is paving the way for signing a deal on the withdrawal of weapons with caliber under 100 millimeters from the frontline.

Kuchma voiced the hope that the agreement, which is seen as vital to put an end to the bloody conflict which claimed almost 8,000 lives, will be signed during the next meeting of the Contact Group on Sept. 22 in Minsk.

The truce in eastern Ukraine was established on Sept.1 following the meeting of the Contact Group on Aug. 26, during which the conflicting sides agreed to fully cease the hostilities to ensure security of children at the start of the new school year. Endi