Hollande says Minsk peace deal extended to next year

After talks on Ukraine future with leaders from Russia, Ukraine and Germany, French President Francois Hollande said Minsk peace process would be extended to next year in order to meet security conditions to hold elections.

"The ceasefire is generally respected and today we were able to make further progress and allow that there are no more victims in this dramatic conflict," the French head of state told reporters.

However, it's "certain" that elections would take more time to be organized, Hollande said, adding "we don't want elections to get held in eastern Ukrainian territories under conditions that would not respect Minsk."

The run-off in eastern Ukraine was previously scheduled for Oct. 18. Three months will be needed between the vote of the electoral law and the election date, which will be overseen by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), according to the French president.

Brokered by Paris and Berlin, the ceasefire deal, reached on Feb. 12 in Minsk, capital of Belarus, envisages that both sides are to withdraw their heavy weapons 25 to 70 km from the front line to create a buffer zone and to exchange prisoners of war.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials and pro-Russian militants agreed to pull-back tanks and smaller weapons systems in eastern Ukraine.

"We wanted to make sure that the withdrawal of light weapons... would start tomorrow morning at midnight. Regarding heavy arms, there must be a similar process, and we should be able to put seals on them," Hollande said

Minsk agreement was originally set to end by Dec. 31, 2015. Endit