In February 2015, the two sides reached a ceasefire deal after talks brokered by the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. Key points of the Minsk agreements include a ceasefire, heavy weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, constitutional reforms, including a decentralization of power in the country, and granting a special status to the Donbass region.
"Today the issue of ceasefire was discussed, in the presence of an OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] representative upon the initiative of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, this especially concerns September 1… We hope that this process will begin on September 1, we saw that separate areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions heard us," Yuri Tandit said as broadcast on the 112 Ukraina channel.
