13/02/2015 14:31
Nobody has firm belief in success of Minsk deal – Poroshenko
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said Friday that the new Minsk agreements on regulating the crisis in eastern Ukraine gives hope, but he is unsure whether they will be fully implemented, Sputnik reports.
The leaders of the Normandy Quartet (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine) held 16-hour talks on Ukraine in the Belarusian capital Minsk on Wednesday and early Thursday. During the meeting, the sides worked out a document stipulating a ceasefire, weapons withdrawal and a prisoner exchange.
"We managed to reach agreements that give hope that the events in Donbas will transition from the hot stage to a state of political regulation. I don't want anybody to have illusions and I don't want to seem naive – we are still far from peace…and nobody has a firm belief that the Minsk peace agreements will be strictly implemented," Poroshenko said during a visit to some educational facilities of the National Guard of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader expressed hope that the situation will deescalate, and peace will be achieved through ceasefire and withdrawal of artillery.