Kyiv raises issue of returning control of Debaltseve to Ukraine
Ukraine has raised the issue of regaining control over Debaltseve. The issue was brought up during a video conference between the Trilateral Contact Group and representatives of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).
“Ukraine specifically drew attention to the provisions of a memorandum dated the 19th of September 2014. It stated that Ukraine would have control over Debaltseve. It also presumed that the conflict would stop at where the contact line was on the 19th of September 2014. This has been violated by ORDLO (an acronym for separatists-held areas of eastern Ukraine). In addition, representatives of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk did not comply with the paragraph relating to the ban on the deployment of heavy weapons and military equipment in the vicinity of the settlements of Komsomolske, Kumachove, Novoazovsk and Sahanka,” reads a Facebook post by Daria Olifer, who is the press secretary of the Ukrainian representative, Leonid Kuchma.
Ukrainian representatives also reiterated their positions on the need for a complete ceasefire, the closure of the border, the withdrawal of foreign troops and armaments, as well as providing the SMM OSCE with access to the part of the Ukrainian-Russian border which is not controlled by Ukraine.
“We emphasize that this is extremely important as the leaders of the countries of the Normandy four will be meeting in Berlin tomorrow,” Olifer concluded.
The 19th of October will be the first time in a year that the Heads of States, who were involved in the peace negotiations in the “Normandy format”, will meet. These leaders last met on the 2nd of October 2015 in Paris.