Ukraine calls on UN Security Council to shore up ceasefire

Ukraine told the UN Security Council on Thursday that a fragile ceasefire must be strengthened before progress can be achieved in political talks on solving the two-year conflict in the country’s east.

Deputy Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said the Orthodox Easter holiday on Sunday would provide an opportunity to shore up the truce after a surge of violations in recent weeks.

“If we can start with that, we can then proceed to withdrawal of forces and resolving of all the problems – de-mining, humanitarian problems – all the way down to a political resolution,” he said.

The 15-member council held its first meeting on Ukraine since December following a rare pause after a series of marathon talks last year that often led to clashes between Russia and the United States.

Ukraine requested the meeting to discuss the ceasefire violations in the eastern Donestsk region that OSCE monitors say have reached worrying levels over the past weeks.

Foreign ministers from France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia are expected to meet in early May to try to push forward the peace effort outlined in the Minsk agreement.