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Foreign Secretary statement on the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine

The Foreign Secretary calls on all parties to implement the agreed ceasefire and use it as a basis for lasting peace in 2017.

After intense fighting over recent days, a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has been agreed to start on 24 December, following negotiations in the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe), which discusses implementation of the Minsk peace process. The Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, has welcomed the announcement, and called on all parties to implement it.

The Foreign Secretary said:

I welcome the announcement of a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, which follows particularly high levels of violence over recent days. This conflict continues to have a devastating effect on millions of people living on both sides of the line of contact. I urge all parties to observe this ceasefire, and to use it as a basis to make progress in building a lasting peace in eastern Ukraine in 2017.

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Published 23 December 2016