Kyiv sets out conditions for extending the withdrawal of weapons in the Donbas
Daria Olifer, Press Secretary to Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine’s representative in the Trilateral Contact Group, reported that implementing the framework decision in the Donbas will continue under two conditions.
“Ukraine has consistently fulfilled its commitments on implementing this decision and the whole range of Minsk Agreements. That is why it will be continued. The withdrawal of weapons from Petrovske will take place on the 7th of October and the withdrawal of weapons from Stanytsia Luhanska will take place on the 9th of October,” Olifer wrote on her Facebook page after the meeting of Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk.
“I emphasize that withdrawal of weapons will take place only on the conditions of the absence of shelling and the simultaneous withdrawal of weapons from the opposing side, under the control of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission.”
An agreement had already been signed on September 21st in Minsk, according to which Ukrainian forces and DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) separatists are obliged to withdraw weapons from the demarcation line in three areas: Stanytsia Luhanska, Petrovske and Zolote.
The agreement entered into force on the 22nd of September. It would have been implemented in 13 days under the condition that the ceasefire be respected in these regions for 7 days.