MINSK, September 5 (RIA Novosti) – Participants of the contact group on Ukrainian reconciliation have signed a protocol of 12 provisions that include a ceasefire deal, OSCE representative Heidi Tagliavini said Friday.
She called the signing “good news.”
Representatives of Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk in southeastern Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire earlier on Friday and reiterated their commitment to the plan.
The truce agreement came into force at 6 p.m. local time (15:00 GMT).
Officials from Kiev, Ukrainian southern regions, Russia and the OSCE met Friday in the Belarusian capital of Minsk in an attempt to find a solution to the Ukrainian crisis.
On Wednesday, the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, in a phone conversation discussed the first steps to be taken to bring an end to the bloodshed in southeastern Ukraine.
Following the conversation with his counterpart, President Putin laid out a seven-point plan that could help find a solution. The plan called on Kiev to withdraw troops from southeastern regions of the country and militia to cease military advances.