Donetsk, Dec 19 - DAN. The Contact Group participants at the Minsk talks supported the proposal of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics to ensure an indefinite, comprehensive and stable ceasefire in Donbass, DPR envoy to the Minsk talks, the Republic’s Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova said on Wednesday.

“The previous accords experience shows that Ukraine violates the truce within the first 24 hours of its coming into force,” Nikonorova said. “It was precisely for this reason that additional measures to control the existing ceasefire were recommended and coordinated with such a great difficulty. That is why the Republics offered the Contact Group to announce the commitment to full and comprehensive ceasefire supported by implementation of all necessary measures towards maintaining it, in accordance with their statement of July 17, 2019.”

According to the DPR Foreign Ministry’s information, the parties to the talks supported the Donbass Republics’ ceasefire proposal. At the same time, Ukraine suggested to reach an accord on a new “winter ceasefire” in the nearest future.

“It is not the name of the ceasefire that is important, nor the new dates which Kiev flaunts for another self-promotion, but the effective adherence to the ceasefire and additional security and control measures which the parties earlier agreed as indefinite and which nobody announced null and void,” the DPR envoy said.

Earlier reports said that a new round of Donbass peace talks had been held in Minsk.

On December 9, Paris hosted a summit of the leaders  of the “Normandy Four” states (Germany, Russia, France, Ukraine). In the course of the negotiations, the parties prepared an outcome document which stated that a number of accords had been reached. One of the expected results was the decision to carry out a prisoner exchange in Donbass under the “all verified for all verified” principle by yearend. The participants also pledged to ensure a full and comprehensive ceasefire by the end of 2019 and agreed to support the Contact Group accord on three more areas for the disengagement of forces and hardware in the conflict zone by the end of March 2020.*jk