Updated 10:03 p.m. Moscow Time
MILAN, October 17 (RIA Novosti) – The agreements signed in Minsk should be a reference point for resolving the crisis in Ukraine and should be strictly implemented, Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists Friday.
"The reference point in the Ukraine [crisis] resolution…should, of course, be the Minsk agreements. I want to note that, unfortunately, these agreements are not being fully implemented by either side," Putin said after a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Milan.
"I presume that all parties [to the Ukrainian conflict] will strive to ensure that all of the agreements are fully implemented," the Russian President added.
On September 5, representatives from Kiev and Ukraine's independence supporters reached a ceasefire agreement during a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. The meeting was also attended by representatives from Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Apart from the ceasefire between the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) and Kiev forces, the Minsk agreement also stipulated an "all-for-all" prisoner exchange between the two sides and the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the conflict areas.
The ceasefire came into force on the same day the agreements were signed, but both sides have subsequently accused each other of violating the truce.
On September 19, the Contact Group agreed on a memorandum outlining addition ceasefire provisions, including the establishment of a 30-kilometer (approximately 18-mile) buffer zone on the current line of contact between Kiev forces and independence supporters in southeastern Ukraine.
