European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says a cease-fire is holding in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 9,500 people since April 2014.
"We hope that this can constitute a good basis not only for the restart of the school year but also for a continuation of the situation in this respect," Mogherini said on September 2 after meeting the EU's 28 foreign ministers in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The trilateral contact group on Ukraine, which comprises representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), struck a deal last week for a cease-fire to coincide with the new school year starting on September 1.
A similar 2015 cease-fire held for less than a week.
Mogherini also said the ministers agreed that the bloc would look into supporting a planned police mission by the OSCE to help the stalled peace process in Ukraine's east.
She added that the lifting of the sanctions against Russia "is going to be linked to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements" aimed at resolving the conflict.
