MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti) — Moscow hopes that the positive signals it is sending will be heard in Ukraine and the rest of the world, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Wednesday.
"We hope that these positive signals that the president of the Russian Federation is sending will be heard throughout the world, first and foremost in Ukraine, and the process of a mutually respectful search for solutions in order to normalize the situation, moving on to a new constitution, to the decentralization [of political power], and respect for the Russian language will be heard, and corresponding solutions will be made in the format of negotiations between Kiev and the leaders of Ukraine’s south and east," Karasin said answering a question regarding Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s comments that the current ceasefire may be revoked ahead of the deadline.
On Tuesday, President Poroshenko said he has not ruled out revoking the recent ceasefire initiative in eastern Ukraine in response to continuing resistance from the independence supporters of self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. The unilateral ceasefire is part of Poroshenko's 15-step peace plan to resolve the crisis in the country.
Following Kiev's urge to lay down their arms, Donetsk independence leader Alexander Boroday announced that defense forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk republics would respect the conditions of the ceasefire and stop fighting until June 27. Later on Tuesday Boroday called Poroshenko’s ceasefire a ploy, saying the Kiev authorities never stopped their violent crackdown.
Russia welcomed the initiative aimed at the peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, but Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the intentions must now be backed by genuine de-escalation based on a nationwide dialogue.
