Deal reached to 'restore' truce between Ukraine, pro-Russia rebels

Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have agreed to restore a full ceasefire between the Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

"I was delighted that participants expressed their strong determination to fully adhere to the Measures to Strengthen the Ceasefire agreement of 22 July 2020," the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Mikko Kinnunen said in a statement on Wednesday.

"This (new agreement) is of utmost significance for the people living on both sides of the contact line," Kinnunen said.

Kiev and Moscow have blamed each other in recent months for violation of a previous ceasefire, which had been agreed in July 2020 and helped significantly reduce the number of casualties last year.

He said that according to the special monitoring mission reports the security situation along the contact line remained volatile, with about five times more ceasefire violations on average per day recorded in December 2021 compared with December 2020.

Major combat between Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed forces ended with an agreement reached in the Belarus capital Minsk in 2015 with the mediation of Germany and France, but sporadic clashes still regularly kill civilians and soldiers in a military conflict that has lasted since 2014.

Russia expects security talks with US, NATO in January

Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he expects negotiations with the United States on Moscow's security demands to begin in January, with concerns mounting over the Ukraine conflict.

His comments come after the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried told reporters she also understands talks with Russia will begin in January, warning some Russian proposals were "unacceptable."

Moscow presented the West with sweeping security demands in two draft documents last week, one addressed to NATO and another to the United States.

"It has been agreed that at the very beginning of next year, the first round (of talks) should be bilateral contact between our negotiators and American ones," Lavrov said in an interview with Russian state-funded news network, RT.

Russia has been accused by the West of plotting an invasion of Ukraine. It denies the claims and in turn has demanded legal guarantees over its security from the United States and NATO, demanding the alliance stop an eastward expansion.

Last week, Moscow presented its demands to the United States and NATO, saying the alliance must not admit new members or establish military bases in ex-Soviet countries.