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‘Absolute ceasefire’ in Donbass not approved yet — OSCE

Earlier in the day, the envoy of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) to the Contact Group, Vladislav Deinego announced the agreement had been achieved

MINSK, February 28. /TASS/. No decision has been made about "an absolute ceasefire" in Donbass starting on March 5, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine, Ambassador Martin Sajdik said on Wednesday.

"There has been no decision on ‘an absolute ceasefire,’ but we are working the issue out," he told TASS.

Earlier in the day, the envoy of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) to the Contact Group seeking a peace solution to the conflict in Donbass, Vladislav Deinego announced the agreement had been achieved.

Apart from that, Sajdik pointed out that at Wednesday’s meeting the sides "expressed readiness to disengage troops and weapons near Stanitsa Luganskaya under the condition of a total ceasefire."

The framework agreement on disengaging the warring parties in Donbass was signed by the Ukrainian, Russian, and OSCE representatives and the LPR and DPR’s leaders in September 2016. Safety zones near Zolotoye, Stanitsa Luganskaya and Petrovskoye (the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, DPR) were to be set up based on the agreement. However, to date, the parties have managed to disengage forces only as far as the vicinity of Zolotoye and Petrovskoye. All attempts to withdraw forces near Stanitsa Luganskaya have failed many times there through the fault of the Ukrainian side, which cited alleged shelling from LPR as the reason.