PRESIDENT Poroshenko has retracted his earlier statement regarding a ‘permanent ceasefire’ in eastern Ukraine, which followed a phone call between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. The new wording from Poroshenko’s office talks of a ‘ceasefire regime’.
Although an earlier corresponding message from Poroshenko’s office initially talked of a ‘permanent ceasefire’, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov underlined that this wording is not applicable because Russia isn’t a party to the violence.
‘In the course of today’s phone call between Putin and Poroshenko there was indeed an exchange of views that went a long way toward an agreement on steps to be taken for a swift end to the clashes taking place between the Ukrainian military and south-eastern uprising,’ Peskov said.
Donetsk authorities say they are willing to engage in a diplomatic settlement with Kiev if it proves its commitment to peace by stopping the shelling.
Meanwhile, President Putin has outlined a seven-point plan to stabilise the situation in the crisis-torn east of Ukraine.
On his way to Ulan-Bator, he outlined his ideas in some notes for a permanent ceasefire that he revealed to journalists.
These were:
1. Militias should cease military advances in the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions.
2. Pro-Kiev armed forces should withdraw to a distance that excludes the possibility of shelling settlements.
3. Implement full and objective international control over ceasefire observation and monitoring.
4. Exclude the use of combat aircraft against civilians and villages.
5. Prisoner/captive-exchange via an ‘all-in-all’ formula, without preconditions.
6. Humanitarian corridors for refugees movement and delivery of humanitarian aid across Donetsk and Lugansk Regions.
7. Direct repair-crew access to destroyed social and transit infrastructure with supportive aid.
Putin expressed hope that final agreements between Kiev and militia in southeastern Ukraine could be reached and secured at the coming meeting of the contact group on September 5.
‘I hope the leaders of Ukraine will support the anticipated progress in bilateral relations,’ Russia’s president said.
