The Contact Group has failed to reach an agreement on a renewed and reinforced ceasefire today as Kiev insisted on a declaration "without strings attached", the LPR representative in the political subgroup Rodion Miroshnik said.
"After 12 hours of negotiations within the Contact Group, it turned out Kiev wanted a no strings attached declaration," he said.
"Donbass needs an operating mechanism of the ceasefire implementation," Miroshnik emphasized.
Today's follow-up to the December 8 Contact Group meeting focused on Ukraine's suggestions concerning the ceasefire regime and its effective observation.
On Thursday, Miroshnik said that Ukraine had changed its position after the telephone talk between the presidents of Russia and the USA, Vladimir Putin and Joseph Biden. Kiev agreed to discuss the Donbass Republics’ proposals to adopt a joint statement on strengthening the ceasefire control mechanism. The LPR representative in the political subgroup added that it is premature to judge if the change in the Ukrainian authorities’ position would lead to the easing or toughening of their line on Donbass.
The Additional Measures to Strengthen the Ceasefire, agreed by the Contact Group members and effective since 00:01 July 27, 2020, ban offensive and commando operations, use of unmanned aerial vehicles, deployment of heavy armaments in or in proximity to residential areas etc. They envision punishment for violators and the use of the coordination mechanism to respond to ceasefire violations. Return fire is allowed in case of offensive, if the order is given by the leadership of Ukrainian forces or DPR and LPR People’s Militias after the unsuccessful attempt to use the coordination mechanism. The Contact Group shall be notified about such orders. *t
