Situation in Ukraine Improved After New Minsk Agreements - Mogherini

The EU foreign policy chief said that everything possible should be done to support the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

RIGA (Sputnik) — The situation in eastern Ukraine has improved since an agreement toward the Ukrainian reconciliation was reached in Minsk in February, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Saturday.

"The situation in the east of Ukraine today is better than it was one month ago. It is not good, we all know that very well, no illusions about that. But it is better than it was on February 12,” Mogherini told reporters after a two-day meeting of the EU member states foreign ministers in Riga.

The EU foreign policy chief added that everything possible should be done to support the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Saturday also said that the situation in Ukraine had relatively stabilized but added that the crisis is still only on its way to the settlement.

On February 12, the leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine worked out a set of measures in the Belarusian capital of Minsk to alleviate the conflict in southeastern Ukraine.

Specifically, the main points of the deal include the implementation of a ceasefire by both sides, in force from February 15, and a heavy weaponry pullout in two weeks.

Kiev launched a military offensive on independence supporters in the eastern Ukraine regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in last April. The confrontation has claimed more than 6,000 civilian lives, according to the latest UN estimates.