Off the wire
• 4 more suspects detained over Istanbul bombing attack: Turkish PM  • Kiev reports 399 attacks targeting civilians since start of E. Ukraine conflict  • Kenya's Kiplagat eyes another record run at Barcelona half marathon  • Beijing champion Kiyeng lusts for Olympic glory  • Copenhagen Airport sets passenger record in 2015  • Roundup: Italian marine not to return to India until end of int'l arbitration  • Ukraine to expand imports ban on Russian goods: PM  • Bird flu case confirmed in eastern Scotland  • Canada announces support for establishing new stem cell research center  • Six Al-Shabaab fighters arrested in security swoop in S. Somalia  
You are here: 　 Home

Conflict parties in Ukraine decide to make new ceasefire attempt

Xinhua, January 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Members of the Contact Group on Ukraine, who gathered in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, Wednesday, agreed on a new attempt to ceasefire in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, starting from Thursday.

New Russian representative Boris Gryzlov had suggested making yet another attempt at ceasefire on the occasion of the old-style calendar New Year, Martin Sajdik, representative of the Organization for the Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) at the talks, said at a press conference held here in the day.

It is deemed necessary due to the fact that past agreement on the ceasefire regime, which was reached on Dec. 22, was not fully respected, said Sajdik.

The negotiators agreed to assess the ceasefire regime at the next meeting in Minsk, which is scheduled to take place on Jan. 20, Sajdik said.

According to him, parties to the Ukraine conflict also agreed to release more than 50 prisoners of war.

The prisoner swap is a key part of the Minsk ceasefire agreement, which is aimed at ending the conflict in eastern Ukraine that erupted in April 2014, with more than 9,000 people killed thus far. Endit