UN, EU welcome Eastern Ukraine ceasefire

Leading international bodies including the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) have welcomed the latest ceasefire agreement for eastern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, analysts and observers from across the international community have sounded a note of caution, stressing that the truce deal was only the first step toward peace.
The ceasefire protocol was inked on Friday in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, where envoys from Ukraine's government and insurgent leadership as well as Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held talks for a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
The deal has brought forth a glimmer of hope that an end to the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine is within reach. Armed clashes in the region, starting in March, have claimed at least 2,600 lives.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday welcomed the truce deal, encouraging all parties to "display good will and take concrete steps toward urgent, full and effective implementation."
"The Secretary-General stresses that credible and comprehensive monitoring and verification are essential elements for successful implementation of the ceasefire and the peace plan," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Ban also welcomed the recent discussions between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia, which played a part in the breakthrough, and strongly encouraged such contacts to continue.
Dujarric said the cessation of hostilities will further allow the UN and other humanitarian actors of the international community to deliver critical humanitarian assistance and other needed support to the impacted areas.
The EU also welcomed the agreement. A statement released Friday by the European External Action Service said: "We welcome the agreement ... The ceasefire agreement must now be respected and fully implemented by all sides."
Yet on the same day, the 28-member bloc also announced its intention to formally adopt new sanctions against Russia designed "in view of Russia's actions destabilizing eastern Ukraine."
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said in a public joint letter that the new set of enhanced measures would target Russia's access to capital markets, defense, dual use goods and sensitive technologies.
Also on the target were some individuals, including "the new leadership in Donbass, the government of Crimea as well as Russian decision-makers and oligarchs," according to the letter.
They added that the new package has been agreed at the level of the Coreper, or the Permanent Representatives Committee, which is responsible for preparing the work of the Council of the EU.
In July, the EU agreed for the first time on broad sanctions against the Russian economy -- a package of restrictive measures targeting Russia's finance, defense and energy sectors, and blacklisted dozens of individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It said then that the sanctions may be scaled up or down according to the development of the situation.
Meanwhile, the just-concluded NATO summit in Wales saw leaders from the 28-member alliance issue a communique covering several areas including a response to the Ukraine crisis.
The communique committed NATO to a continuous military presence in eastern Europe with units rotated through the area. It agreed to create a Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VHRJTF), a small force capable of responding within a few days.
However, it is still impossible for NATO to have direct military involvement in the Ukraine crisis unless the eastern European country becomes a member, said Igor Sutyagin, a research fellow in Russian studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a leading think-tank in London.
The ceasefire agreement was widely regarded as an important step to solve the Ukraine crisis. But analysts and observers warned that so far no one can tell whether the truce will last
Even if there is a permanent ceasefire, how to define the status of Donetsk and Lugansk and how to delegate power to them remain a thorny issue for the Ukrainian government. Other challenges include post-war reconstruction and the settlement of the refugees.
The truce deal, they cautioned, was only the first step toward peace.