UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire agreement that will start on December 24 in eastern Ukraine, spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said at a press briefing on Friday.
"The Secretary-General welcomes this development and hopes it will bring to an end the deadly violence along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, he expects that all concerned will abide by their commitments so as to enable the return of calm and continue the Minsk process with a view of making tangible progress," Dujarric said.
Dujarric also reiterated UN support to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Normandy format and their work to bring the sufferings of civilians in Ukraine’s conflict-affected areas to an end.
On December 21, the Contact Group seeking to find a solution to the Donbass crisis agreed to introduce a ceasefire starting from midnight on December 24. The current attempt to "indefinitely" cease the fire in eastern Ukraine has become the tenth since the conflict erupted in the region.
