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Contact Group approves additional Donbass ceasefire control measures

The corresponding orders of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the DPR people’s militia will come into force starting Monday July 27

DONETSK, July 22. /TASS/. The Contact Group for settlement in eastern Ukraine has approved additional ceasefire control measures on the line of contact during a video conference on Wednesday, foreign ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) informed on its Telegram channel.

"Today’s session has brought on the long-awaited results: the harmonization and approval of additional measures of control over the current ceasefire, which includes very important demands from both sides," the message informs. The DPR foreign ministry added that the corresponding orders of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the DPR people’s militia will come into force starting Monday July 27.

The DPR foreign ministry has expressed hope that Kiev would show political will and would adhere to the current ceasefire fully.

A representative of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in the political subgroup Rodion Miroshnik noted on Telegram that Kiev representatives had resisted the approval of the corresponding document for at least six months. The additional measures were approved due to the persistent position of the Donbass republics and the principal support of the Russian Federation, Miroshnik added.

Since the autumn of 2014, the Contact Group for settlement in eastern Ukraine has declared over 20 ceasefires in Donbass. Members of the Contact Group declared an indefinite ceasefire in Donbass starting on July 21, 2019. The agreement, in particular, included the parties’ obligations to take additional measures to ensure compliance with the truce. The participants in the Normandy Four (Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France) summit held in Paris on December 9, 2019 highlighted the need for achieving a full-fledged truce in Donbass by the end of 2019. However, ceasefire violations by the Ukrainian armed forces have persisted.

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