Updated 12:39 p.m. Moscow Time
DONETSK, October 2 (RIA Novosti) – The prime minister of Ukraine’s self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic told RIA Novosti Thursday the aggravated situation in the republic may negatively reflect on the process of the Minsk talks on Ukraine, but says the republic is ready to cooperate with the Ukrainian authorities in continuing prisoner swaps.
“Prisoner swaps will continue, but the Minsk meetings are doubtful,” Donetsk Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko said.
The Donetsk People’s Republic authorities on Wednesday said that artillery strikes on Donetsk by Ukrainian forces had left 11 people dead and around 40 residents injured. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the shelling.
Ukraine has been engulfed in a violent internal conflict since mid-April, when Kiev began its military operation against independence supporters in the southeastern regions of the country. The conflict claimed the lives of more than 3,500 people, according to the UN.
The sides agreed on a ceasefire at a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine held in Minsk on September 5. Another meeting of the group resulted in a memorandum, specifying implementation of the ceasefire, which involves the creation of a 30-kilometer [18-mile] buffer zone, withdrawal of all heave weapons from residential areas and the deployment of the OSCE monitoring mission.
Since the establishment of the ceasefire regime, the conflicting sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the agreement. However, the OSCE stated that the truce was generally holding.
