The foreign ministry welcomed a recent truce deal between the warring sides in the armed conflict in east Ukraine, which partially took effect on Sunday. The ministry’s spokesperson, Marzieh Afkham, on Saturday expressed hope that the implementation of the peace deal could provide a “step forward in the settlement of the current dispute in east Ukraine,” Press TV reported. Afkham said the deal could hopefully “bring a full end to hostilities and stop the killing of innocent people.” The deal was finalized on Thursday when leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed in the Belarusian capital Minsk to stop the fighting in east Ukraine and to start the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the frontlines.
