Russia refuses to support Ukraine’s proposal on ceasefire in Donbas
The Russian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas (TCG) did not support the proposal of the Ukrainian delegation to ensure compliance with the full and comprehensive ceasefire in the Donbas from April 1, reported the press service of the Ukrainian delegation to TCG.
The last TCG meeting began with a proposal by the head of the Ukrainian delegation Leonid Kravchuk to ensure compliance with the full and comprehensive ceasefire from 12.00pm on April 1.
OSCE Special Representative Heidi Grau and the coordinator of the security subgroup, the head of the OSCE SMM, Ambassador Halit Cevik, supported the proposal.
At the same time, Cevik proposed to adopt a joint statement of the TCG, in which the parties would confirm their intention to maintain the ceasefire.
"Thus, two of the three representatives of the TCG have made concrete proposals to ensure a return to a full and comprehensive ceasefire. Unfortunately, neither Kravchuk's proposal nor the OSCE’s found support from the Russian delegation," the Ukrainian delegation said.
The press service of the Ukrainian delegation pointed out that Russia refused to confirm its commitment to the ceasefire "despite the statements of the leaders of Germany and France, in which they called on Russia to commit to stabilizing the ceasefire in the Donbass."
On March 26, four Ukrainian soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in the Donbas as a result of shelling by pro-Russian militants near the village of Shumy.