Updated on 12:09 p.m. Moscow Time
MOSCOW, September 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russian delegation has distributed the seven-point peace plan on the Ukrainian settlement proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as an official document at the United Nations, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
“We have distributed the seven-point plan suggested by President Putin as an official UN document. This is another effort on our part at the UN to de-escalate the conflict,” Gatilov said.
On Wednesday, Putin outlined a seven-point plan for the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, calling on Kiev to withdraw troops from southeastern regions of the country and militia to cease military advances. The plan also includes proposals for an international monitoring force, the establishment of a humanitarian corridor, a ban on the use of combat aircraft over urban areas, an exchange of prisoners in an "all for all" formula and direct repair-crew access to destroyed infrastructure in the war-ravaged areas.
The outlined plan was further discussed at the second meeting of a trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk on Friday, where the representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) searched for an agreement on ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis. The group held the first round of peace talks in the Belarusian capital on August 26.
Since mid-April the Ukrainian government has been conducting a military operation against independence supporters in eastern Ukraine, who refused to acknowledge the new government that came to power after a coup in February. The fighting intensified after Donetsk and Luhansk regions proclaimed independence in May.
According to UN estimates, fighting has killed over 2,500 people and injured over 6,000.
