The Ukrainian Defense Ministry hopes the "quiet day" declared in east Ukraine on December 9 will be complied with despite the rescheduling of the Minsk talks, Ukraine's Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said.
“The preliminary agreement (about the “quiet day”) has been announced, tomorrow we will see how it is being implemented,” Poltorak said after talks with Canadian National Defense Minister Robert Nicholson.
The Ukrainian troops open fire only in return, Poltorak said.
“The Ukrainian forces are ready for the quiet,” he said, adding that Ukraine’s Armed Forces also ready for unpredictable actions on the part of illegal armed groups.
It was reported that at a meeting on December 4 Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko and senior security and defense officials set out measures to ensure compliance with the Minsk accords with respect to the “quiet day” due to begin on December 9.
Last Friday, sources in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) told Interfax that they were ready to abide by the December 9 truce, provided Ukraine does so too.
Since a memorandum to settle crisis in east Ukraine was signed in Minsk on September 5, “quiet days” were repeatedly announced but breached by militants.
The next meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group over the situation in Donbas is due in Minsk on December 9.
