New Delhi: The US and NATO nations took a relaxed breath on Wednesday after Russia and Ukraine agreed to seize fire at the border. Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday agreed at talks in Paris that all parties should observe a ceasefire in the east of Ukraine after more than eight hours of discussions which were hailed by a French diplomat.
For the first time since 2019, Ukraine and Russia agreed to sign a joint statement along with France and Germany about the ongoing conflict between Ukrainian forces and separatists in the east of the country.
A Russian troop build-up close to the border east of Ukraine has raised fears the Kremlin is planning a military intervention in its pro-EU neighbor as Moscow presses demands over NATO’s presence in eastern Europe.
The joint statement committed both sides to unconditional respect for the ceasefire and also said that they would meet again in two weeks.
A 2014 ceasefire deal bolstered in 2020 helped end the worst fighting over two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine that has claimed some 13,000 lives. Western countries have been concerned that Russia could use a flare-up in fighting along the front between Ukrainian soldiers and separatists as a pretext to launch an invasion of its neighbor.
(_Vinayak)