MOSCOW, July 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will mediate another video conference between Kiev and eastern Ukraine independence supporters to discuss a ceasefire in the area where the Malaysian airliner crashed Thursday, Rossiya 24 television reported, citing Russia’s top diplomat.
“Very soon, as Sergei Lavrov had said, another video linkup will be held between the independence supporters and Kiev with Russia’s mediation, in order to decide on announcing a ceasefire,” a Rossiya 24 correspondent reported.
“Parameters of the ceasefire are the main stumbling block at the moment, including issues of whether the [government] troops or self-defense forces can be allowed to change their location or receive some kind of supplies [during the truce] and so on,” he said.
The previous ceasefire was announced in Ukraine’s war-torn regions in the end of June, as part of the peace plan by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who promised to de-escalate the situation in the region. The 7-day long truce was not extended, with Kiev saying that it would reconsider its position only if independence supporters choose to lay down their arms.
A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed Thursday near the town of Torez in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region. The death toll includes 283 passengers and 15 crew members.
The cause of the accident has not been determined, though both parties of the conflict in the southeast are blaming each other for shooting down the airliner with a Buk anti-aircraft missile.
