Talks aimed at negotiating a ceasefire between Ukrainian government troops and pro-Moscow rebels has opened in Minsk, Belarus. The highly-anticipated talks mark the latest diplomatic push to end months of fighting, reports GHN based on dw.de
The so-called Contact Group conducting the talks in Minsk on Friday includes representatives of Russia, Ukraine, separatists and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Most of the representatives declined to comment to reporters outside the hotel in central Minsk where the talks are taking place, however former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said, "We all came for peace, that's the most important thing - to find a truce."
The talks are aimed at achieving a ceasefire to bring an end to the months of fighting between Kyiv forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Friday's meeting also come amid a two-day NATO summit in the Welsh city of Newport where leaders are expected to announce further sanctions against Moscow if talks in Minsk prove fruitless.
Hours before talks began there were reports of renewed shelling near Ukraine's eastern port city of Mariupol. The city, which has become the latest flashpoint in the conflict between Kyiv and pro-Moscow rebels, lies along the Sea of Azov, between Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula. Seizure of the city would give the pro-Moscow rebels a strong foothold.