Dacic calls for "three day truce" in eastern Ukraine

Dacic calls for "three day truce" in eastern Ukraine

VIENNA -- Ivica Dacic has called on all actors of the continuing heavy fighting around Debaltsevo in Ukraine to immediately stop all military activities.

"On humanitarian grounds, the OSCE chairman calls on all actors in and around the Debaltsevo area to establish a local temporary truce for a minimum of three days, which should take immediate effect and be facilitated and supported by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine," the OSCE said.

This would allow for an urgent evacuation of civilian population from the conflict zone, the Serbian foreign minister and OSCE chairman-in-office was quoted as saying.

He asked Heidi Tagliavini, special representative to the Trilateral Contact Group, to pursue this proposal within the Group, the release said.

The truce should also be used for immediate resumption of consultations aimed at ensuring a sustainable cease-fire and full implementation of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum, Dacic stressed.

The two documents remain the basis for a peaceful settlement of the crisis, he said.

The OSCE chairperson-in-office pointed out that the Trilateral Contact Group had stated its readiness to engage in such consultations without delays.