MINSK, February 1. /TASS/. Members of the Contact Group on resolving the situation in eastern Ukraine has pointed to the decreasing number of ceasefire violations along the line of contact, Russia’s Representative to the Contact Group Boris Grlyzlov told reporters following the Group’s meeting in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. According to him, there are days when "there is no shelling or the number of shelling attacks is very few."

"It shows that when there is political will, security issues can be resolved," Gryzlpv pointed out.

At the same time, in his words, shelling attacks carried out by the Ukrainian forces continue to be recorded. "In particular, on January 21, a bus came under fire in the neutral zone near Volnovakha and a civilian was killed," Gryzlov said. "Those responsible for ceasefire violations have not been brought to justice. In addition, Ukraine continues to refrain from withdrawing forces from the Stanitsa Luganskaya area," he added.

The Russian envoy reiterated that "the Minsk Agreements remain the only one internationally recognized formula for resolving the Donbass conflict." "We urge Kiev to abandon the use of military force and take effective economic, humanitarian and political steps," he said.

Grlyzlov emphasized the need "to remove the economic and transport blockade of Donbass and continue the exchange of detained persons in order to conduct the ‘all-for-all’ prisoner swap stipulated by the Minsk Agreements." "There is also a need to speedily enact the law on the special status of Donbass and the amnesty law," the Russian envoy noted.

On December 23, a new ceasefire came into effect in Donbass, which was agreed by members of the Contact Group on resolving the situation in eastern Ukraine. However, the self-proclaimed republics continue to record shelling attacks by the Ukrainian military.