You're reading: Foreign Minister: Kyiv seeks bilateral ceasefire in eastern Ukraine

Ukraine will seek a bilateral ceasefire in the eastern part of the country, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said.

“We should devise a system now in which both parties to the conflict will cease fire,” Klimkin said at a press conference summing up outcomes of his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on July 29.

Klimkin pointed out that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had earlier proposed a peace plan for the eastern part of Ukraine, which includes three key aspects, i.e. the conflict’s de-escalation and a ceasefire, humanitarian aspects, and a political component.

“It is very important now for both parties to cease fire and restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity. We need critical progress: the hostages must be freed as soon as possible, and OSCE monitors should work at the scene of the conflict from the first minutes of a ceasefire,” he said.

Klimkin also insisted on the importance of sealing the Ukrainian-Russian border to prevent arms supplies from Russia.

He thanked the U.S. for providing assistance to Ukraine in the current situation and invited Kerry to visit Kyiv.