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Ukraine's Donetsk republic vows to comply with ceasefire agreement as of Feb 15

Members of the trilateral Contact Group on the Ukrainian conflict settlement on Thursday signed the four-page set of measures to implement the Minsk agreements
Militia fighters in eastern Ukraine AP Photo/Maximilian Clarke
Militia fighters in eastern Ukraine
© AP Photo/Maximilian Clarke

MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. Officials of the self-proclaimed unrecognized Donetsk People's Republic have announced unconditional compliance with the February 15 ceasefire agreement reached on Thursday at the 16-hours-long overnight marathon talks in Minsk, spokesman for the republic's Defense Ministry, Eduard Basurin has told reporters.

"Kiev must fulfill its obligations, too," he said. Basurin noted that Kiev continues issuing orders to the Armed Forces to continue the ongoing offensive in Donbas.

"One can ignore defeat in the battlefield, of course, but it’s incredible that anyone can sacrifice the lives of innocent people who’ve found themselves at bay and give orders on an offensive to them," he said. "However, Kiev does issue such orders."

On Thursday, shelling took the lives of three civilians and left another three wounded, Basurin said adding that the intensity of fire had subsided by nighttime.

Members of the trilateral Contact Group on the Ukrainian conflict settlement on Thursday signed the four-page set of measures to implement the Minsk agreements.

The first point of the document adopted in Minsk sets the condition of an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire starting at 00:00 hours (Kiev time) on February 15, 2015. The conflicting parties have agreed on withdrawal of all heavy weapons.

Other points

Another point of the document provides for the release and exchange of all the hostages and illegally held persons based on the "all for all" principle that should be completed on the fifth day after the weapons withdrawal at the latest. The sides also agreed on restoring the Ukrainian side’s control over the state border throughout the conflict zone.

There's also a point that provides for withdrawal of all foreign armed groups and mercenaries from Ukraine’s territory under OSCE supervision; all illegal armed groups must be disarmed.

The set of agreed measures envisages Ukraine’s constitutional reform with the country’s new constitution talking effect by late 2015. The key element of the new constitution is power decentralization and adoption of permanent legislation on the special status of some districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.