And the outcome of the summit looks uncertain Wednesday. Participants include the "Contact Group" on Ukraine with representatives of Kiev, Moscow and the OSCE, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and also the Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, French Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Delegates of the Contact Group yesterday denied having reached an agreement on a cease-fire as was previously reported the Tass news agency. The representative of the pro-Russian separatists also denied any agreement.
At the heart of the negotiations to ensure a de-escalation, there is the creation of a demilitarized zone of several tens of kilometers wide with the withdrawal of heavy weapons, control of 400 km of Russian-Ukrainian border and composition a possible intervention force not to mention the status of the two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, the organization of local elections and Western sanctions against Moscow.
If political agreement there, it will be the "Contact Group" to develop the application protocol while the conflict has left more than 5,400 dead in ten months.
