Russian President Vladimir Putin has set out a seven-point plan to help resolve the ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine.
Announced one day ahead of the Nato Summit in Wales, UK, the plan demands an end to all ongoing offensive operations by the Ukrainian security forces and rebels in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
The plan also calls for an end to Kiev’s airstrikes in the conflict zone, withdrawal of the Ukrainian forces to positions from which they cannot shell settlements, deployment of international observers to monitor a truce and the unconditional release of all captives.
The roadmap also includes proposals for the opening of corridors for refugees’ movement and humanitarian aid delivery, as well as the dispatch of aid to rebuild infrastructure in the Donbass region.
The plan follows a telephone conversation between Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, during which the Ukraine premier broadly agreed to the peace terms.
Putin said: "I believe that a final agreement between the authorities of Kiev and south-eastern Ukraine can be reached and cemented during a meeting of the Contact Group on 5 September."
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By GlobalDataHowever, Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk rejected the roadmap, calling it: "An attempt to deceive the international community on the eve of the Nato Summit and to avoid new EU sanctions.
"All previously approved … understandings, in Geneva, Normandy, Berlin and Minsk, were just ignored or violated blatantly by the Russian regime.
"The best plan to stop war of Russia against Ukraine can be composed of the single point: Russia withdraws their regular troops, mercenaries and terrorists from Ukrainian territory.
"We expect decisions from Nato and the EU on how to stop the aggressor."
Meanwhile, Donetsk rebels expressed their willingness to enter into diplomatic settlement with Ukraine if it stops the shelling in the east.
According to UN estimates, the five-month Ukraine crisis has claimed the lives of nearly 2,500 people and displaced one million others.