Ceasefire Agreed to in Minsk
During talks in Minsk, the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire in the Donbas beginning February 15th, a withdrawal of heavy weapons, and political dialogue with the “select areas.”
According to Ukrayinska Pravda, this was outlined in a document signed by the contact group and published by Ekho Moskvy.
The document provides for the following measures in order to implement the Minsk agreements:
1. Full bilateral ceasefire from 00:00 local time on February 15th
2. Withdrawal of all heavy weapons no later than day two of the ceasefire: Ukrainian troops from the current frontline, separatist forces from the September 19th line
3. Ceasefire monitoring to be carried out by the OSCE
4. Dialogue on the holding of local elections in the occupied territories, with their borders to be stipulated by a Verkhovna Rada resolution.
5. Amnesty for figures involved in the Donetsk and Luhansk conflict
6. Exchange of the prisoners of war on the basis of “all for all”
7. Unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid
8. Restoration of full social and economic links, including social transfers, such as payment of pensions
9. Restoration of full Ukrainian government control over the state border to begin on the first day after local elections, and to be completed after a comprehensive political settlement (elections and a constitutional reform), but before the end of 2015
10. Withdrawal of all foreign armed groups and mercenaries under the control of the OSCE
11. Constitutional reform in Ukraine, with the adoption of a new constitution which makes provisions for a key element of decentralization, and the enactment of a “special status of certain parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions”
12. Elections to be coordinated with representatives of “the select areas”
Valeriy Chaly, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, stated on his Facebook page that two documents were adopted at the meeting: “A set of measures to implement the Minsk agreements ” in the framework of the Trilateral Contact Group, and a declaration in support of those measures approved by the presidents of Ukraine, France, and Russia and the Chancellor of Germany. Chaly also added that no autonomy or federalization is provided, only decentralization.
