Minsk Protocol

Neither Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian rebels have started pulling arms out of the areas of conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Kiev says the army would not pull back until the siege around Debaltseve ends, whereas the rebels insist the army should leave the beleaguered city which in their opinion is not part of the Minsk agreement.

A ceasefire beginning on Sunday is mostly being observed, media outlets report.

Though several incidents have been reported, pro-Russia rebels acting in the regions around Donetsk and Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, say they do not constitute a severe violation to the agreement.

The US administration on Thursday welcomed with guarded optimism the latest Ukraine ceasefire agreement  and called for its "full and unambiguous implementation".

OSCE welcomes Minsk agreement

VIENNA -- OSCE Chair and Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic welcomed on Thursday the results of the meeting achieved in Minsk.

He gave his "full support to the package of measures for implementation of the agreement reached by the Trilateral Contact Group in September 2014," the OSCE said.

Kiev and the pro-Russian rebels have signed a roadmap for the implementation of the ceasefire drafted during the marathon 17-hour talks in Minsk, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko.

Poroshenko, as cited by AFP and The Telegraph, informed that the contact group had signed a document that had been prepared amid substantial tension.

The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine have agreed a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine, participants at the summit talks said on Feb. 12.
   
The deal reached after all-night negotiations in the Belarussian capital Minsk included a ceasefire that would come into effect on Feb. 15, followed by the withdrawal of heavy weapons.
   

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to a Ukraine peace summit in Minsk on Wednesday to "try everything right to the end," the French presidency said.
      

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.

VIENNA - Ivica Dacic, the Serbian foreign minister and the current chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has called on all actors of the continuing heavy fighting around Debaltsevo and the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the area to refrain from violence and to immediately stop all military activities.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic called for an immediate ceasefire on Saturday, as the situation in Ukraine has rapidly deteriorated in the past 24 hours.

Dacic's call comes after more than 20 civilians have been killed and many more injured in the latest clashes between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists, the Guardian reports.