Easter cease-fire in eastern Ukraine set for March 30

MOSCOW (AA) - Leaders of what is known as the Normandy format welcomed the recent announcement of an Easter cease-fire in the southeast of Ukraine, according to a statement published on the Kremlin official website on Thursday.

The cease-fire in the Donbass region will start on March 30 under the control of the OSCE mission, said the statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko once again confirmed their adherence to the Minsk II agreement and promised to find ways to accelerate its implementation in the coming months.

The cease-fire was announced by the Donbass Contact Group, which includes representatives from Ukraine, as well as from the Donbass region, the Russian Federation, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Ukraine has been wracked by conflict in its eastern regions since March 2014 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Conflict parties signed the Minsk cease-fire agreement in February 2015, with the mediation of France and Germany, but the fighting continued, claiming more than 10,000 lives, according to the UN.

The UN General Assembly has voted to proclaim the Russian annexation illegal.

Along with many UN countries, the U.S., the EU and Turkey do not recognize Crimea as Russian territory.