Minsk---There is "hope" that an agreement on the 10-month Ukraine conflict will be signed soon by a contact group that is meeting in parallel with a marathon four-way peace summit in Minsk, a diplomatic source told AFP on Thursday.
"There's hope that an agreement will be signed by the (trilateral) contact group," consisting of representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the pro-Moscow rebels, the source said.
They hoped for document concerns the "concrete implementation" of a failed September peace deal to end the conflict that has killed at least 5,300 people.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Russia's Vladimir Putin, France's Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are trying to thrash out a peace deal at the presidential palace in Minsk, where they have been in 13 hours of talks since Wednesday.
One of the main sticking points of the failed September "protocol" is who controls the 400 kilometre (250 mile) stretch of Russia's border with rebel-controlled Ukraine. Kiev accuses Moscow of pouring troops and weapons across the border to bolster the insurgency, charges the Kremlin denies.
There is also deep disagreement on the size of the territory the rebels will control, as they have made considerable gains in recent weeks.
The September deal signed in Minsk also provided for an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of "illegal armed groups, military hardware, and all fighters and mercenaries" from Ukraine and the creation of a buffer zone.
It also provided for the "immediate" liberation of all those captured by both sides, "inclusive national dialogue" aimed at agreeing a "decentralisation of power" and elections as well as a broad amnesty for fighters.
AFP
