Ukraine ceasefire deal offers peace chance, more efforts needed

The world on Thursday breathed a sigh of relief when the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine eventually agreed to a much-anticipated cease- fire deal on the Ukraine crisis after intensive negotiations.

The cease-fire deal, announced after more than 14 hours of discussions through the night in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, offered a flicker of peace hope for eastern Ukraine, which requires continued efforts and cooperation by all parties to ensure that the new Minsk deal will not suffer the same fate as the previous one signed in September last year.

"This is glimmer of hope, no more no less," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters at a European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium. "There are still major hurdles lying ahead" and "concrete steps" must be taken, she warned.

The document, inked by all parties that signed the Minsk Protocol and the Minsk Memorandum on Sept. 5 and Sept. 19, 2014, is a package of measures aimed at the implementation of the Minsk agreements, which French President Francois Hollande called "a relief for Europe" and "a hope for Ukraine."

An "unconditional and comprehensive" ceasefire in eastern Ukraine starting from Feb. 15 topped the package, indicating a consensus among all parties that bloodshed must be stopped immediately.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters after the marathon talks that he had called on the conflicting parties to show restraint in order to avoid unnecessary casualties.

Meanwhile, Hollande thanked Putin for his influence exerted on leaders of the self-claimed Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics. He also thanked President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko for his active participation in the negotiations.

The armistice also envisages the withdrawal of heavy weapons by both sides from the front line which should begin no later than the second day after the ceasefire, and the establishment of a security zone with a width of 50 to 70 kilometers in southeastern Ukraine.

The four leaders signed in the declaration, saying "they are strongly convinced that a peaceful settlement is the sole option ( for the resolution of Ukraine crisis)," a position that distinguish them from U.S. President Barack Obama who said three days ago that "the possibility of (arming Kiev with) lethal defensive weapons is one of those options that is being examined."

"Against this background, the position of the U.S. looks like a dissonance as it repeatedly called for arming Kiev," said Sergei Naryshkin, Speaker of Russian State Duma, or the lower house.

Though the deal gives a chance for peace and survival for people in eastern Ukraine, a fact that can hardly be neglected is that it is a product of compromise.

"There is no guarantee that the agreement will be long-lived, because the fresh agreement, to some extent, is a replica of the September deal," said Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of Russia' s The National Defense magazine.

"It is unclear whether Poroshenko has enough resources to persuade domestic interest groups to implement the agreement, and the political status of Donbass is still up in the air," he told Xinhua.

The first issue for now is to ensure a full implementation of the new deal, which would lay a solid foundation for further progress.

"The cooperation among all parties is necessary in order to move in the constructive direction," said Ilkka Kanerva, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Enditem