OSCE head says September 1 cease-fire in eastern Ukraine holding
“I can tell you with relief that our meeting today has been one of the less confrontational and more successful ones”, Mr. Steinmeier said in a statement provided by his office.
The German official spoke in Berlin after meeting with the foreign ministers of Russian Federation, Ukraine and France to discuss the conflict in Ukraine.
The United Nations estimates that the violence has killed almost 8,000 people – majority civilians – since April 2014.
Kyiv has also pledged to devolve power in eastern Ukraine, though the issue over local elections remains a thorny issue.
Mr Zannier said he had visited Mariupol and Shyrokine – the scene of recent clashes – and found the situation to be calm.
In an interview with the AP news agency on Saturday, OSCE chief Lamberto Zannier said the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine had opened space “to make progress on a political level”.
The Minsk deal provides for a political settlement, including local elections in areas under separatist control, but the Ukrainian government and the separatists have failed to agree on how those elections will be held.
In the past, Ukrainian and rebel forces have blamed each other for repeated ceasefire breaches but both sides are now broadly respecting a ceasefire that came into effect on September 1, according to worldwide monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Billionaire mogul and White House frontrunner Donald Trump accused US President Barack Obama on Friday of paying “lip service” on Ukraine and failing to stand up to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, AFP reports.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Saturday that the cease-fire, which has been upheld for two weeks in eastern Ukraine, needed to be “further consolidated”.
Russian Federation will not enter into negotiations on restructuring Ukrainian debt, said Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Kyiv must repay the $3 billion it owes Moscow in full by the December deadline. Donetsk rebels and their fellow separatists in neighbouring Luhansk have said they would hold their own votes on October 18 and November 1, respectively, drawing protests from Kyiv.
