ADDIS ABABA (Ethiopia), September 17 (RIA Novosti) - The ceasefire in Ukraine is holding and the number of incidents that occur once in a while should gradually decrease if Kiev takes decisive steps to prevent them, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday."We can conclude that a number of incidents, including serious, are being provoked by the official representatives of the Ukrainian armed forces," Lavrov said during an official visit to Ethiopia.
"But in general, our assessment and the assessment of our colleagues from other countries is that the ceasefire is holding, and the incidents that are still taking place must gradually decrease," Lavrov said.
"We are hoping that the Ukrainian leadership will take measures to prevent such incidents," he added.
On September 5, the Contact Group on Ukraine, comprising the representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), conducted talks in Belorussian capital Minsk that resulted in a ceasefire agreement between Kiev and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Ministry's Special Representative for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov has also said that attempts to disrupt the ceasefire must be decisively addressed to prevent any further bloodshed.
The ceasefire came after several months of military confrontation in eastern Ukraine between the Kiev-backed forces and independence supporters that started in mid-April. According to the UN, more than 3,000 people were killed as a result of the conflict.
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