Ukraine Defense Ministry Ready for Donbass Ceasefire From April 1

Ukraine's Defense Ministry said Thursday it is ready for a ceasefire in Donbass from April 1.

KIEV (Sputnik) — Russia's envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation Boris Gryzlov on Wednesday said the group coordinated a new ceasefire along the separation line in Donbass for the duration of the Easter holidays starting on April 1.

"The Armed Forces of Ukraine and other security agencies of Ukraine, which are involved in the Anti-Terrorism Operation [ATO], are ready to implement all decisions of the Minsk group that will be made. We are ready for disengagement and for ceasefire," Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said at a briefing.

The Donbass conflict erupted in April 2014 as a local counter-reaction to the West-sponsored Maidan coup in Kiev that had toppled President Viktor Yanukovych in February. Residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions held independence referendums and proclaimed the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Kiev has since been conducting a military operation, encountering stiff local resistance.

In February 2015, Kiev forces and Donbass independence supporters signed a peace agreement in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in Donbass, as well as constitutional reforms that would give a special status to the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Despite the agreement brokered by the Normandy Four states, the ceasefire regime is regularly violated, with both sides accusing each other of multiple breaches, undermining the terms of the accord.