President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that during the meeting of leaders of the countries – participants in the Normandy format, a complete ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, which should start by the end of 2019, had been agreed.
“First of all, these are urgent measures to stabilize the security situation in eastern Ukraine. This is a complete, comprehensive and indefinite ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, which should begin by the end of 2019,” the Head of State said during a meeting with the media following the Normandy summit in Paris.
The President also stressed that it had been agreed to extend the mandate of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission with the possibility of conducting round-the-clock monitoring.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the Normandy format countries supported the development and implementation of an updated mine clearance plan.
In addition, the parties agreed to discuss new areas for disengagement in Donbas, which are of great humanitarian importance for all Ukrainians, within the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk.
French President Emmanuel Macron praised Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s political courage and determination as President of Ukraine.
“It helped restore trust on a reciprocal basis. We have also managed to emphasize at the highest level that we are trying to achieve a just and lasting peace, to end the conflict, which is not frozen and which has already led to 13,000 dead,” Emmanuel Macron said.
He stressed the importance of achieving stability on the European continent and building a new architecture of trust and security by resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine in the framework of the Minsk agreements.
“These arrangements are the basis of conflict resolution. We have already started disengagement (ed.) in three pilot zones agreed in 2016. We also conducted an exchange of captives,” the French President recalled.
