MOSCOW: French and German foreign ministers are visiting Ukraine to shore up a 2015 peace deal that has floundered amid continuing fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Jean-Marc Ayrault and Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko Wednesday to discuss ways to secure a durable cease-fire and implement the political provisions of the Minsk agreement, which was brokered by France and Germany.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatist rebels and Ukrainian government troops has killed more than 9,500 people since it began in April 2014. The February 2015 deal helped end large-scale battles, but smaller clashes have continued to claim lives and political settlement has stalled.
Separatist rebels on Tuesday declared a unilateral cease-fire, and Steinmeier said that Ukraine agreed to observe the truce starting midnight Wednesday, according to Interfax.
French, German ministers in Ukraine to revive peace deal
French, German ministers in Ukraine to revive peace deal
