Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 01 September 2016: Ukraine confirms the ceasefire in Donbass on the start of a new school year

The Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Stepan Poltorak, and the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, have announced that a ceasefire has been observed in Donbass this morning despite heavy shelling which took place last weekend according to the OSCE report. The spokesman for the rebel administration in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, Eduard Basurin, confirmed no violations of the recent agreement on a ceasefire. At 12:00, the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine held an urgent videoconference during which the representatives of the OSCE stated that the ceasefire agreement worked.

The reason for this ceasefire was the start of a new school year in Donbass which saw more than 150,000 children go to schools in Donbass. On the 26th of August, the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, took an initiative in arranging the ceasefire in the region on the 1st of September. France and Germany had immediately backed Ukraine's call for a ceasefire on this day. On the 31st of August, the presidential spokesman of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, stated that Russia welcomes this ceasefire agreement on a long-term basis. The BBC reported that it was the first true halt to fighting in 11 months.