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[QUOTE]Leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic Alexander Zakharchenko (left) stands next to kneeling captive Ukrainian soldiers at a bus stop where 13 people were killed in a trolleybus shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on January 22, 2015.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]A Russian-backed separatist leader in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday said his group would hold a cease-fire starting midnight local time Wednesday and urged the government to follow suit.
The announcement by Alexander Zakharchenko, who leads the rebels in Donetsk, aired on Russian television and could be a move towards ending the more than two-year-old conflict.
Over 9,500 people have died since the conflict began in April 2014. Last year, the Ukrainian government signed a peace accord with the separatists in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, that failed to take effect.
Zakharchenko, dressed in a suit instead of his usual camouflage, berated the Ukrainian government for “lack of willingness to solve the problem in a peaceful manner” in the recorded TV announcement.
He said the rebels are “fully committed to the Minsk agreements” and see them as “the only solution.” It was the first time the separatists announced a unilateral cease-fire.
It came soon after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he expected lawmakers to vote soon on constitutional amendments to give autonomy to parts of eastern Ukraine.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/09/13/ukraine-rebel-leader-announces-unilateral-cease-fire/90296446/[/url]
[QUOTE=Trebgarta;51044353]Hope this one sticks.[/QUOTE]
Ha ha
[quote]Zakharchenko, dressed in a suit instead of his usual camouflage, berated the Ukrainian government for “lack of willingness to solve the problem in a peaceful manner” in the recorded TV announcement.[/quote]
Well it is hard to solve things peacefully when you start a separatist movement and start shooting police and soldiers. Even harder when you're importing active duty Russian troops to help you shoot police and soldiers.
Update: Russia is backing this ceasefire plan
[QUOTE]Russia has accepted a unilateral seven-day ceasefire in Ukraine on behalf of the separatist leaders that it has been backing for the past two years.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's foreign minister, made the announcement on Wednesday in Kiev where he has been holding talks with the Ukrainian president.
"Today we came here with the news that with a commitment from Moscow, which reached us yesterday, starting tonight there will be a ceasefire on the part of the separatists, to start with for seven days, beginning at midnight," he said.
Visiting Kiev with his German counterpart, Jean-Marc Ayrault, France's foreign minister, said an attempt to revive a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine from midnight could set the scene for agreement next week on further peace moves.
Ayrault said he also expected both sides to sign an agreement next week to withdraw their troops from the lines of conflict in three hotspots.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/09/ukraine-russia-backs-7-day-unilateral-ceasefire-plan-160915044958918.html[/url]
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