The Trilateral Contact Group for Ukraine has reached agreement in Minsk on a full and unconditional ceasefire starting midnight on December 23, 2015, says Darka Olifer, the press secretary of former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who represents Ukraine in the Contact Group.

"The key problem that has still not been resolved is the continuing firing on the contact line. This is precisely why there is an agreement on a full and unconditional silence regime starting 00:00 a.m. on December 23, 2015. This initiative is essential primarily for the civilians in Donbas, so that they could celebrate Christmas and the New Year's in peace," Olifer said on Facebook on Tuesday.

The Trilateral Contact Group's security subgroup is continuing the mine-clearance work, Olifer said. "This process has already been started in some sections of the territories controlled by Ukraine, but it cannot be continued everywhere because these places have been shelled regularly," she said.

No progress has been made on the liberation of captives, Olifer said. "At the same time, Ukraine still believes that at least some Ukrainian citizens would be able to return to their families from captivity before the end of this year," she said.

Some progress can be seen in the process of searching for those missing, Olifer said. "The sooner this process starts, the easier it will be to find the people," she said.

"The International Committee of the Red Cross is involved in this work. The lack of international humanitarian organizations' access to Ukrainian captives is a special problem. Convicts serving their terms in penitentiaries in the part of Donbas not controlled by Ukraine and wishing to serve their terms in the territory controlled by Ukraine still cannot do so, either," she said.

The economy subgroup is continuing to look for a mechanism to clear debts for water supply in territories not controlled by Kyiv, she said.

"Debts for water consumption in some districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions amount to several hundred million hryvnias. After this mechanism is found, work will be started to restore water supply in these districts," Olifer said.

The political subgroup did not convene on Tuesday, Olifer said. The main issue on its agenda is the organization of elections on the part of Donbas not controlled by Kyiv. "These elections must be held in line with Ukrainian law, in keeping with the OSCE standards, and with Ukrainian parties' and Ukrainian journalists' involvement," she said.

Kuchma's press secretary also summed up the outcomes of the Trilateral Contact Group's work in the outgoing year, giving priority to "the ending of large-scale bloodshed."

"There are agreements on withdrawing weapons smaller than 100mm in caliber. It has taken great efforts to have more than 50 Ukrainian citizens freed from captivity. Restoration work on power transmission lines, water and gas supply systems, and railway lines is under way in a number of Donbas communities, and civilians in the affected areas are receiving humanitarian aid. The four working subgroups, which started their work in May 2015, have played a significant role in all these processes," she said.

Ukraine thanked Belarus "for arranging the Trilateral Contact Group's work. Without our Belarusian partners' assistance and commitment, the Minsk process would have been impossible," Olifer said.