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The ceasefire regime, which took effect in July, gave hope that it would succeed in ending the fierce war of positions that erupted in 2014 after the Kremlin annexed Crimea. This conflict has already collected more than 13 thousand. lives.
“In recent weeks, we have witnessed an escalation of the conflict,” said Andriy Jermak, head of the office of the president of Ukraine.
“This is a deliberate provocation against the Ukrainian armed forces to end the ceasefire,” he added at a conference organized by the Brussels-based think tank at the Center for European Policy.
Eight Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since mid-February, and Kiev has claimed responsibility for Moscow and the separatists and accused them of using prohibited military equipment.
Heavy weapons, such as tanks and large-caliber mortars, are prohibited under the so-called Second Minsk Agreement, signed in February 2015, to end the conflict.
Jermak called on Western mediators, including France, Germany and the United States, to “intensify their efforts” to resolve the conflict.
Kiev and its allies in the West accuse Russia of sending troops and weapons to support the separatists. Moscow itself denies such accusations.
Earlier this week, the Kremlin said it was “deeply concerned about the growing tensions” at the front and accused the Ukrainian forces of escalating the conflict.
“We are registering more and more shootings from the territory of Ukraine,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, urging Kiev to comply with end-of-war agreements.
During a visit to Ukraine this week, European Council President Charles Michel said the EU did not intend to lift economic sanctions on Russia for its role in the conflict.
According to him, Moscow did not respond to “positive steps by Ukraine” towards the end of the war in the same way, calling Moscow “a party to this conflict, not a mediator.”
“During my first visit to eastern Ukraine with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, I expressed the EU’s unconditional support for the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The shameful reality is that people here continue to die and face the dire consequences of the The only way forward is the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. The EU sanctions on Russia will remain in force until their implementation becomes a reality, “Chap. Michelis.
He also noted that when they went to the so-called contact line in the Lugansk region with President Zelensky, they called for the full opening of all entry and exit points.
“This is essential for people-to-people contacts and the provision of services through the hotline,” explained the President of the European Council.
He added that he was impressed by the work of the Special Oversight Mission (OSCE) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and thanked the EU partners, together with the Community, for supporting the local population. affected by the conflict.
“The EU is working on new checkpoints and demining, as well as strengthening its support for the OSCE PSC so that it can fulfill its full mandate,” Michel emphasized.
The armed conflict in the so-called Donbass region began in 2014, when pro-Russian separatists took control of part of eastern Ukraine, when a pro-Western government came to power in Kiev after the Maidan revolution. Currently, the Donetsk and Lugansk regions are uncontrolled separatist territories of Kiev, which have been declared the “People’s Republic” of Donetsk and the “People’s Republic” of Lugansk.
They border Russia and are separated from the rest of Ukraine by a so-called hotline based on the Minsk agreements.
Both parties participate in the negotiations of the Tripartite Contact Group on the solution of the situation in Donbas. The so-called Normandy Quartet, made up of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, also seeks to contribute to ending the conflict.
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