Kyiv: Russia refuses to agree on 'Easter truce' in Donbas
During negotiations held by the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Russia refused to support Ukraine’s initiative to declare an Easter truce that would start on April 19, said Ukrainian representative in the TCG, Iryna Herashchenko.
According to her, the Skype conference lasted for six hours, but the negotiations bore no results.
“Russia refused to support the Ukrainian initiative to declare a truce for the holiday and refused to take on the responsibility of enforcing a cease-fire in the Donbas," Herashchenko posted on Facebook.
She also said that at the Skype conference, the representative of the Russian Federation in the TCG Boris Gryzlov did not show, the diplomat Kulmugamedov represented the Russian side instead.
“The Russian Federation categorically refused to guarantee compliance with the cease-fire, once again repeating the Kremlin's theses on “civil war, internal conflict” and the need for “direct dialogue” with ORDLO (acronym for LPR and DPR),” Herashchenko added.
The Easter Truce was expected to take effect on April 19 at noon.
After the meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, President Petro Poroshenko announced a ceasefire in the Donbas as of April 18.