The Ukrainian military says the schedule for withdrawal of heavy artillery could be corrected “in case there is offensive activities from the other side.”
© REUTERS/ Gleb Garanich
Ukraine’s General Staff has announced on its website that Kiev is beginning to withdraw its heavy weaponry from the disengagement line in the country’s troubled eastern regions.
“Today Ukraine begins to withdraw its 100-millimeter artillery from the demarcation line,” the statement reads. “This first step towards the withdrawal of heavy artillery will take place only under OSCE monitoring and verification.”
The General Staff stressed, however, that the schedule for withdrawal of heavy artillery could be corrected in case of offensive activities from the other side.
Meanwhile Donetsk and Luhansk forces have already been pulling back their heavy weapons for days, in line with the Minsk agreement, and have voiced their concern over Kiev’s failure to do the same.
Kiev forces and Donbas independence supporters have already been in a situation of military confrontation since April 2014. On February 12, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France worked out a peace deal that envisaged, among other steps, the pullout of heavy artillery from the line of contact.
No comments:
Post a Comment