Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the separatists, under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), today renewed the negotiations taking place in Minsk, says the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The sides are trying to reach an agreement about a complete cease-fire starting on September 1 -- the day a new school year begins.
Our news desk has come up with a few more details on Ukraine's debt deal:
Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Yaresko says Kyiv has reached a debt-restructuring deal with international creditors under which part of the $18 billion debt will be written off and the rest will be extended until 2019.
Yaresko said the deal involved a 20 percent write-down on the principal and met all targets set by an International Monetary Fund bailout program.
"Everyone's done well out of this deal. That's why it's collaborative. It's not one side winning, it's a win-win situation. We're all now moving forward without putting the value of the bonds at any further risk," she said in comments made on August 26 but released a day later.
Ukraine's sovereign dollar bond prices surged after news of the deal.
In Moscow, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Russia would not participate in the agreement.
Ukraine owes Russia a $3 billion eurobond due for full repayment in December
(Reuters, TASS)
Yesterday a captive of Ukraine asked not to be returned to the so-called DPR. So this morning the "DPR" appears to have replied in turn.
LifeNews, a Russian news outlet with ties to the country's security services, is now reporting that one of the Ukrainian troops currently in captivity of the so-called DPR officials asked to stay with the separatists and not be returned.
However, Current Time correspondent Timur Olevsky, who is witnessing the exchange process, reports that the man is actually not a Ukrainian fighter, but a civilian -- a local citizen who was included in the list of prisoners to be exchanged by the so called DPR itself.
As a result, separatists returned only 11 Ukrainian captors, as opposed to the promised 12.
(See previous post for Olevsky's report from last night in which a captive asked not to be returned to the DPR).
!!! BREAKING !!!
Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Yaresko says Kyiv has reached a debt-restructuring deal with international creditors, under which part of the $18 billion debt will be written off and the rest will be extended until 2019. MORE TO FOLLOW...