MOSCOW, September 6 (RIA Novosti) – A number of settlements, through which the humanitarian corridors could be organized, were chosen at a meeting of a Contact Group in Minsk on Friday, Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Zakharchenko said Saturday.
“Regarding the humanitarian corridors: we have designated some settlements, through which [corridors] will pass from the territory controlled by Kiev as well as from the militia-controlled territory,” Zakharchenko said.
On Friday, the members of the Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation met in Belarusian capital Minsk to find ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.
Kiev authorities and self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR) signed a deal to declare a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine starting from 15:00 GMT Friday.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called on both the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to provide international monitoring of compliance with the bilateral ceasefire.
The sides also agreed on exchange of prisoners and humanitarian aid.
The clashes between the Ukrainian forces and independence supporters have been ongoing since mid-April, when Kiev launched a military operation against southeastern regions of Ukraine after independence supporters refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the new government following the February 22 coup.
According to the United Nations, over 2,500 people have been killed and more than 6,000 injured since the start of Kiev’s military operation in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has been repeatedly urging Kiev to stop the bloodshed and establish humanitarian corridors in the region.
