"Russia has consistently made efforts to mediate the conflict in recent days. In particular, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a written message to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, in which both sides of the conflict were offered a specific heavy weaponry withdrawal plan. The Ukrainian president received the letter on Friday morning," Dmitry Peskov said.
The spokesperson reiterated Moscow's growing concern over the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine's southeast (Donbas), where "shelling of populated areas in Donetsk [has] resumed again".
According to Peskov, there is an "absolute degradation" of the situation in the region.
On Sunday, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, said that the shelling in Donetsk, carried out over the weekend using Grad and Uragan missiles, was Kiev's attempt to "unleash a war" in Donbas once again.
The Contact Group for Ukraine, comprising representatives from Russia, the OSCE, Kiev, DPR and LPR (Luhansk People's Republic) also agreed on a number of provisions, specifying the ceasefire at a later meeting in September. The provisions stipulated an all-for-all prisoner exchange and the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the line of contact between the two conflicting sides in eastern Ukraine.
Fighting continues in Donbas despite the Minsk agreements and both Kiev and the self-proclaimed people's republics have accused each other of violating the ceasefire.
