Participants in the Trilateral Contact Group have spoken in support of the proposed full ceasefire in Donbas starting from April 30, Darya Olifer, press secretary of Ukraine's second (1994-2005) president Leonid Kuchma, who represents the country in the Group, has said.
“Today, the participants in the Trilateral Contact Group came up with a statement about their support for the full ceasefire regime, due to take effect from April 30, 2016. This statement has been made further to the peace initiatives of Ukraine’s president Petro Poroshenko. I am hopeful that this statement will give an impulse in terms of solving issues from the security section,” Olifer wrote on her Facebook page following the meeting held in Minsk on Friday.
She went on to recall that the previous Contact Group meeting on April 20 saw all the parties uphold the initiative of the Ukrainian side to release hostages ahead of the Easter holiday. “However, this process has been derailed by the representatives of certain parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” Olifer said.
Referring to the opening hours of the crossing points in the Luhansk region on the upcoming days when people go to cemeteries to honor their lost relatives and loved ones, Olifer said: “Ukraine initiated and opened two crossing points in the Luhansk region, near Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote, in order to allow residents of the Luhansk region to freely cross the contact line on decoration days. However, regrettably, due to the violations of the ceasefire regime committed by representatives of certain parts of the Luhansk region, these crossing points are closed.
