No solution of Ukrainian crisis without Russia — OSCE chairman

MINSK, September 05./ITAR-TASS/. A protocol on ceasefire and a 12-point peace plan have been signed at a meeting of the trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, participants of the meeting told journalists during a break.

“We have... signed a 12-point protocol. The key thing is the immediate cessation of fire from 18:00 local time,” OSCE Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini said.

“Most points of the protocol meet our requirements,” Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky said Friday. “But a ceasefire does not mean that we will change our course for secession from Ukraine. This is a forced measure.”

In turn, self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Prime Minister Alexander Zakharchenko emphasized that "a ceasefire will make it possible to save people’s lives".

After that, the meeting of the Contact Group continued behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a protocol on ceasefire strating in Ukraine's south-east from 6pm Friday, September 5.

The previous talks of the Contact Group comprising representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were held in the Belarusian capital Minsk behind closed doors on September 1.

The Contact Group assembles former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Alexander Zakharchenko, head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky, Russian ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov, and Heidi Tagliavini, representing the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).