Normandy Four in Minsk

15 февраля 2015

Today is the first day when guns were silenced on the East of Ukraine - this is the key decision of the Normandy Four, which met this week in Minsk.

The Belarusian capital has become the epicenter of world politics. The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France gathered in the Palace of Independence in order to use the chance and find peaceful resolution of the crisis. The search for compromise lasted for almost 16 hours.

Long and difficult negotiations resulted in a six-page Minsk Agreement. It contains 13 items. The key of them is the cease-fire in the night from Saturday to Sunday. Among other things, the parties also agreed that within two weeks heavy weapons must be withdrawn to the distance of at least 50 kilometers. The document also prohibits prosecution and punishment of individuals associated with the events in Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Within 19 days hostages must be released in the format of "all for all". Before the end of this year Ukraine should carry out constitutional reform. Norman leaders also signed a special declaration in support of the implementation of Minsk agreements.

The news from Minsk was covered by more than five hundred journalists from Europe, Asia, USA and the Middle East. The Belarusian capital became the epicenter of the main news on BBC, Euronews, Al-Jazeera, Fox News and many others.

Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation:

"It was not the best night in my life but the morning, I think, is good, because we have managed to agree on the main things despite all the difficulties of the negotiations."

The most important achievement is the ceasefire, starting from February 15. This is one of the 13 points of the document, which was endorsed by the contact group.

Experts call the Minsk meeting a political breakthrough. Not only because of the agreement on the peace plan. European politicians Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel visited Minsk for the first time.

The leaders of Germany and France published their first photo on the Belarusian land in the official Twitter account of the Elysee Palace.

Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande thanked Alexander Lukashenko for organizing the meeting. They left the Palace of Independence in a good mood. Now the important thing is for the leaders to remember their promises made during the sleepless night in the Belarusian capital.

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