For left to right: French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G20 Summit in Hamburg on 7 July 2017 [PPIO]After a telephone conversation between Russian, French, Ukrainian Presidents Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron and Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the four sides have announced their support for a proposed new ceasefire deal in east Ukraine.
“The leaders expressed hope that the cease-fire would lead to a lasting improvement of the security situation for the benefit of the schoolchildren and the entire civilian population of Donbass,” a joint statement said on Tuesday.
The four leaders, known as the Normandy format, agreed to back a new ceasefire deal in time for the beginning of the school year.
A ceasefire agreement signed in February 2015 in Minsk that aims to end the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and separatists has failed to end artillery fighting. Each side accuses the other of violating the truce.
About 10,000 people have been killed in the three-year conflict.
Earlier this year, heavy shelling in eastern Ukraine shattered a fragile two-year ceasefire causing dozens of deaths and wounded among civilians and soldiers. Although there have been violations in the past, the latest round of fighting near the Ukraine government-held town of Avdeyevka (or Avdiivka) has been the most critical.
Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Moscow of fueling a pro-Russian uprising in the country.
TBP and Agencies
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