Iran welcomes Minsk deal on Ukrainian conflict

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has welcomed a recent truce deal reached between the warring sides of the armed conflict in east Ukraine.

The ministry’s spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, on Saturday expressed hope that the implementation of the peace deal could provide a “step forward in the settlement of the current dispute in east Ukraine.”

According to a statement on the website of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Afkham said the deal could hopefully “bring a full end to the hostilities and stop the killing of innocent people.”

The much-anticipated deal was finalized on Thursday when leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed in the Belarusian capital of Minsk to stop the fighting in east Ukraine and to start the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the frontlines.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said after the marathon talks, “I believe we agreed on a big deal. We agreed to a ceasefire starting at 00:00 on February 15.”

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is to supervise the implementation of the ceasefire deal on the ground.