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Ukraine Contact Group agrees on ceasefire in Donbass

The Contact Group confirms readiness to exchange detained individuals before the New Year

© Mikhail Sokolov/TASS

MINSK, December 20. /TASS/. Members of the Contact Group for settling the armed civil conflict in eastern Ukraine have reached agreement on a ceasefire in Donbass as of 00:00 hours on December 23, Russia’s plenipotentiary representative to the Ukraine peace settlement talks in Minsk, Boris Gryzlov, told reporters on Wednesday.

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Kremlin comments on possible UN mission deployment to Donbass

"The Contact Group stressed the importance of assuring peace and quiet in Donbass in the run-up to the New Year and Christmas," he said. "Proceeding from the agreements reached previously, the Contact Group reaffirmed its commitment to the comprehensive, steady and indefinite ceasefire as of 00:00 hours on December 23, 2017."

"Russia confirms commitment to a full and precise effectuation of the Minsk accords," he said. "In this first place, this concerns the importance of unblocking work on the political settlement, an amnesty and legislative provisions for a special status of Donbass along the ‘Steinmeier formula’.".

The Contact Group on the settlement in the Donbass region has expressed its determination to exchange detained individuals before the New Year, he said.

"The Contact Group confirmed its intention to exchange detained individuals before the New Year and Christmas holidays in accordance with the agreements reached earlier," he told reporters.

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