MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia hopes that agreements on ceasefire in Donbass will be adhered to and the withdrawal of heavy weapons will be resumed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.
"We have a common hope that the agreements of the Contact Group, supported by the Normandy Four on adherence to the ceasefire announced yesterday will be met and the withdrawal of heavy weapons will resume, as was agreed on earlier," Lavrov told a press conference with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom.
In February 2015, Kiev forces and Donbass independence supporters signed a peace agreement in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in Donbass, as well as constitutional reforms that would give a special status to the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Despite the agreement, the ceasefire regime is regularly violated, with both sides accusing each other of multiple breaches, undermining the terms of the accord.
