Official Washington has welcomed the decision of the Trilateral contact group on the establishment of a temporary ceasefire in the Donbas during the period of Christmas and New Year holidays, and expressed hope for a longer truce. This was announced on Thursday at a briefing by the Press Secretary of the US Department of State, John Kirby.
"The United States welcomes the statement of the Trilateral contact group on ceasefire in eastern Ukraine during the holidays", he said.
Kirby reminded of the recent upsurge of violence in the East of Ukraine, when "united Russia and militants forces attacked positions of Ukrainian forces using heavy weapons prohibited by Minsk agreements".
In this regard, the representative of the State Department said the United States concerned about these events.
Recall that the participants of the Trilateral contact group on the settlement of the situation in the Donbas region confirmed their intention to announce the ceasefire state at 00:00 on December 24. The OSCE Special Representative for Minsk talks Martin Sajdik said this on December 21.