Brussels, 12/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - After 16 hours of negotiation in Minsk, the French, Russian and Ukrainian presidents and German chancellor reached an agreement on Thursday 16 February on a ceasefire, and on a comprehensive political settlement of the conflict in East Ukraine.
The ceasefire will be effective from midnight on 15 February. “Our starting point is that all the parties will show moderation until the full ceasefire”, said Russia's President Vladimir Putin. In the view of France's President François Hollande, the comprehensive settlement will focus on all the issues - from the ceasefire to the end of border control, as well as decentralisation, the withdrawal of heavy weapons and the resumption of economic relations.
“All the issues have been addressed in this text, which was signed by the contact group and the separatists”, Hollande stated. The contact group, comprising Ukrainian and Russian envoys and representatives from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), negotiated in Minsk with the separatist rebels, alongside discussions from the four leaders. The trilateral contact group will continue this work. The leaders, on their side, committed to monitoring implementation of the comprehensive political settlement.
According to Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, the withdrawal of heavy weapons will begin on 17 February and the two sides will have 19 days to release their hostages. The agreement also involves creating a 50-70km buffer zone, with the withdrawal of fighters and heavy weapons, compared with the 30km zone provided for by the Minsk agreements in September.
In their Minsk statement, supporting the “package of measures for implementing the Minsk agreements”, the leaders assure that Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity will be respected, and that monitoring meetings for implementing the agreement will be organised regularly. In addition, the presidents and chancellor “share the conviction that the improvement of cooperation between the EU, Ukraine and Russia will be favourable to settlement of the crisis”. They thus approve the continuation of the trilateral talks between the EU, Ukraine and Russia on energy issues, and the trilateral discussions between the EU, Ukraine and Russia with a view to reaching practical solutions to the concerns raised by Moscow on implementing the free trade agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
Coming days will be crucial. Hollande believed that this agreement offers “serious hope, even if everything is not yet accomplished”. “But the agreement does not guarantee that there will be lasting success in the coming days. This means that we should continue to be vigilant, to exert pressure, and to continue the movement that has been started thanks to the initiative that the chancellor and I have been able to launch”, Hollande added, arriving at the informal European Council on Thursday 12 February. “We are at a crucial juncture, where an agreement has been obtained. I believe that this is a glimmer of hope, and more than that - and at the same time it's a juncture where everything can still be decided in one direction or another, and the coming hours will be determining”, Hollande warned.
“But beyond the coming days, it will be very important - and this is also the direction of this Council (see other article) - for us to continue to exert the necessary pressure, and the crucial vigilance, for there to be peace in Ukraine. But we have already committed to this process. I believe that we are on the right track”, Hollande added in Brussels.
The agreement “gives great hope, but there is still much effort to be made”, said Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel. “There is still a great deal of work ahead of us but this is a real opportunity to improve the situation”, she added.
Merkel and Hollande hailed Poroshenko's efforts, who “has done his utmost to reach a beneficial solution for his country”, Merkel said. Hollande also hailed Putin, “who has put as much pressure as necessary on the separatists”. Putin will continue his contact with the separatists.
Europeans welcome agreement and call for words to become actions. Upon arrival at the European Council, the Europeans welcomed the agreement, while showing caution. They called for the words to be turned into action on the ground. This agreement “gives us hope. Hope is good - indeed it's vital, but it's not enough. The real test is respect of the ceasefire on the ground”, said European Council President Donald Tusk, adding that the first Minsk agreements had not been respected. “Action on the ground is needed - rather than just words on a piece of paper”, said British Prime Minister David Cameron. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker welcomed the “excellent news”. Finland's Prime Minister Alexander Stubb was very circumspect. “The key is now to give peace a chance. We have a ceasefire agreement and a peace plan. But we are in a critical phase. If the ceasefire does not last, then I think we will have a frozen relationship between Russia and the West for the future”, he warned.
Stating that the agreement was “definitely a step in the right direction”, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said that the EU was “looking already at the practical tools, the practical means, that we have to make the implementation feasible, to support it, to help and sustain these efforts”. She stated that she was going to propose “some concrete measures” to the heads of state and government, which could be put in place on the European side to monitor and implement the agreement (our translation throughout). (Camille-Cerise Gessant)