The Russian side at the Minsk talks on Ukrainian reconciliation, held on Wednesday and early Thursday, was "a supporter" of an immediate ceasefire, which ended up being difficult to agree upon, Peskov told the Russian Kommersant newspaper.
In the end, "at the request of the [Donetsk and Luhansk] militia" the parties at the Minsk talks decided that the ceasefire between Kiev forces and independence fighters would come into force at midnight, February 15, Peskov explained.
Their meeting resulted in two agreements. The first document was signed by members of the Contact Group on Ukraine, which comprises representatives from Russia, Kiev, the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). It outlines a number of measures aimed at ending the conflict in southeastern Ukraine, including a ceasefire between Kiev forces and independence supporters, the creation of a buffer zone between the two sides through the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the region and an all-for-all prisoner exchange.
In September, 2014, the Contact Group reached a similar agreement in Minsk, however, despite the ceasefire military confrontation continued in southeastern Ukraine.
According to the latest UN estimates, at least 5,486 people have been killed in the ongoing violence in Ukraine since the start of Kiev's military operation against independence supporters in the country's southeast in April, 2014.
