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Russia cannot guarantee Donbass ceasefire as it’s not party to the conflict, Kremlin says

According to the Kremlin spokesman, "it is important that both sides fully adhere to their obligations and agreements"

MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/. Russia cannot act as a guarantor of implementation of the current ceasefire in Donbass because it is not a party to this conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, answering the question whether Moscow can provide guarantees that the self-proclaimed Donbass republics will abide by the indefinite ceasefire that entered into force on Monday.

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Putin, Zelensky hail extra measures to control ceasefire in Donbass

"It is one thing [to secure this agreement] at the Normandy Four level, while I don’t think that we can talk about any guarantees on Russia’s side because Russia is not a party to the conflict on southeast Ukraine," he noted.

He underlined that the leadership of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics put down the indefinite ceasefire in relevant documents and underlined, "this decision deserves the highest praise and is satisfactory." "This is a very substantial and positive step towards strengthening mutual trust and easing tensions along the line of contact," Peskov added. According to the Kremlin spokesman, "it is important that both sides fully adhere to their obligations and agreements."

Answering the question whether Moscow and Kiev should use the same terminology regarding the Donbass conflict, Peskov urged to use "the wordings contained in the Minsk Package of Measures."

On July 22, the Contact Group approved additional measures to ensure the Donbass ceasefire, banning shelling attacks, offensive and reconnaissance activities, the use of aerial vehicles, and the deployment of heavy weapons to settlements. The measures, which took effect on July 27, cannot be revoked by any other orders and are supposed to remain in effect until the conflict is fully resolved. The DPR and LPR on July 26 announced that the relevant orders were issued and communicated to the republics’ servicemen, while the Ukrainian side published a similar order at 00:01 on Monday.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky suggested that the document on additional ceasefire measures in Donbass be approved by all Normandy Four members (Russia, France, Germany, Ukraine).

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