Mike Pence to Ukrainian FM: Minsk Agreements 'Most Viable Path Towards Peace'

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Vice President Mike Pence reaffirmed to Ukraine Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin during a meeting on Wednesday US support for a peaceful resolution in the ongoing conflict in the country, the White House stated in a press release.

“The Vice President emphasized unwavering US support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the release stated. “He underscored that the Minsk agreements remain the most viable path towards peace.”

Kiev launched a special military operation in Ukraine’s southeast in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities, which came to power as a result of what was considered as a coup. In February 2015, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire after the talks brokered by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine – the so-called Normandy Format – in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.

The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, an all-for-all prisoner exchange and constitutional reforms, which would give a special status to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. Both sides of the conflict, however, have been constantly accusing each other of violating the agreement.

On March 15, the Trilateral Contact Group decided to declare on a new ceasefire in Donbass for the duration of the Easter holidays starting on April 1. However, the ceasefire failed to hold with both sides of the conflict continuing to blame each other of violations.