Self-Defense Forces, Kiev Troops Declare Ceasefire in Donetsk Airport: DPR

According to the Donetsk People's Republic's parliament speaker, the ceasefire between the DPR and Kiev forces will go into effect at 15:00 GMT on Tuesday.

DONETSK, December 2 (Sputnik) – The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Kiev government forces have agreed on a ceasefire in the Donetsk Airport, the DPR parliament speaker said Tuesday.

The ceasefire will go into effect 18:00 Moscow time (15:00 GMT), Andrei Purgin said.

Militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic is planning to begin the pullout of heavy military hardware from a line separating the warring sides of the Ukrainian conflict by December 9-10, the DPR official said.

"We are hoping to achieve some progress by December 9-10," Andrei Purgin, the speaker of the DPR People's Council told reporters.

"Without the withdrawal of heavy weaponry the ceasefire is impossible," Purgin stressed.

The conflict in Ukraine escalated in mid-April when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, who refused to recognize the new government which came to power as a result of the February coup.

Since the beginning of the operation, intense fighting has been reported in the area of Donetsk airport.

The Minsk agreements, reached on September 5 at a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine, established a ceasefire regime in southeastern Ukraine.

The memorandum, which followed the agreement was signed September 19 and specified the ceasefire’s implementation. However, the independence supporters in the southeast and the government in Kiev, have repeatedly accused each other of violating the regime.