MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. It is too early to speak about the failure of ceasefire in Ukraine despite separate instances of truce violations, Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee chairman Konstantin Kosachev told journalists on Wednesday.
"According to the information that I have, confrontation continues in Debaltsevo, but it is considerably subsiding in the Donetsk Region and has almost completely stopped in the Luhansk Region," Kosachev noted.
The lawmaker also stressed that "certain statements made by both sides about criminal prosecution of some leaders should not be overestimated." "I would not consider the attempts [to suggest different interpretation of the Minsk agreements] dramatic. The war of nerves is in full swing with the aim of getting concessions and strengthening one’s own positions. It is better without this, but the fact that it happens does not mean that we should bury the Minsk agreements," Kosachev said.
Yesterday’s vote in the UN Security Council, when the Russian draft resolution on Ukraine was approved unanimously, provides the Minsk agreements with international legitimacy. "It is the support from the most reputable, supreme authority that the international community has," the lawmaker stressed.
Ceasefire in Donbas entered into force on February 15 at 12am Moscow time. The measure was envisaged by the Minsk agreements signed by the Contact Group on February 12 in the Belarusian capital following 16-hour long negotiations on the Ukrainian crisis settlement. According to Minsk agreements, heavy weaponry withdrawal should be started no later than on February 16.