UNITED NATIONS, December 2 (Sputnik) — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hopes the sides to the conflict in eastern Ukraine would adhere to the ceasefire, agreed on in Minsk this September, Ban's Spokesman said Tuesday.
"We've seen the violence in Ukraine over the last few weeks, and the repeated violations of the Minsk Accord, which has been a very big concern of the Secretary General. Obviously, if this ceasefire or effective agreement were to come into effect, we'd very much welcome it. We would encourage all parties to work toward that end which would help save lives," Stephane Dujarric stated.
Ukraine has been trapped in an internal armed conflict, which escalated in mid-April, when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
In a bid to bring the conflict to an end, a trilateral Contact Group on the crisis was established. The group, including representatives from Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Russia, convened a meeting on September 5 in Minsk, Belarus, which resulted in a ceasefire agreement. Yet, the sides have since accused one another of violating the agreement.
