NATO Summit: Poroshenko says Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels will sign peace plan

The Newport NATO summit started on September 4 with the Ukrainian crisis being the most critical topic on the agenda of the 60 leaders attending the talks. Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s President, announced that an agreement on a peace plan will be signed on September 5 in Minsk conditioning the ceasefire on both sides. He also stated that NATO supports the state-members prepared to provide military assistance to Ukraine, reads Mediafax.

“Provided the meeting takes place, I will call on the General Staff to set up a bilateral ceasefire”, he said, according to the newswire. He further added that they hope that the implementation of the peace plan will begin on Friday.

Talks in Minsk will start at 14:00 GMT between delegates from Ukraine, Russia and Europe’s OSCE, yet, pro-Russian rebels will also attend the meeting.

Pro-Moscow separatist leaders announced as well that they will also order ceasefire starting 15:00 GMT provided that Ukrainian representatives will agree to set up a peace plan ending the five-month war in Eastern Ukraine.

On September 3, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, advanced a seven-point peace plan which would end the Ukrainian crisis, also restating that Russia was not involved in the fighting that caused over 2,500 deaths in nearly five months.

However, both NATO and the US showed skepticism as regards his statements, taking into consideration a new round of economic sanctions if Russia does not take any step towards restoring peace in the region.