OSCE Confirms Militias Withdraw Weapons from Contact Line
Local Editor
According to a report issued by monitoring mission of the OSCE, heavy weapons and artillery systems were being withdrawn from the demarcation line in eastern Ukraine which observed at least four eastern militias' convoys over the past days.
The report said that the OSCE monitored the withdrawal of weapons by eastern militias, though it did not mention any similar actions by Kiev troops.
Furthermore, the mission monitored the militia pulling back a convoy of "four tracked Howitzers, one military-style jeep and one support truck" at a location five kilometers east of Donetsk city on February 28.
Based on the report, "The SMM followed each "DPR" [Donetsk People's Republic] convoy on routes leading from the contact line, to locations described by the respective "DPR" convoy commanders as being the final destination for this equipment, behind the relevant withdrawal line. The SMM intends to monitor these locations on a daily basis".
Moreover, the Lugansk representatives also invited the OSCE monitoring mission to monitor the artillery positions near Bryanka.
The report declared that two of them were empty of heavy weapons and at the third position, the mission observed five towed howitzers, and monitored them as they were moved to a position 10km south of the rebel-held Volnukhino, 24km south of Lugansk and 43km south of the demarcation line.
Furthermore, the monitors reported the withdrawal of weapons from Zorinsk, Ivanovka, Stakhanov, Yujnaya Lomovatka, Samsonovka, Rebrikovo settlements.
In the meantime, the Ukrainian army had failed to pull back any "considerable" number of artillery systems from the demarcation line, DPR spokesman Eduard Basurin declared.
"Kiev's delays in fulfilling its liabilities concerning the pullout of heavy weapons from the actual line of engagement create prerequisites for disrupting the implementation of the Minsk agreements by the Ukrainian side," he added.
He accused Kiev of not fulfilling any of its obligations under the Minsk-2 deal - "either political, or economic", such as lifting the "blockade of the republics." According to him this "once again proves that the Ukrainian party is not planning to fulfill its obligations."
The Minsk-2 memorandum agreed upon by both sides of the conflict in particular envisioned a ban on the use of all weapons and withdrawal of heavy artillery to a distance of 15 kilometers from the demarcation line from each side.
The OSCE mission was tasked with monitoring the implementation of the agreement, brokered by the Normandy Four - Kiev, Russia, France and Germany.
Henceforth, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert stated that the four leaders "welcomed progress with the agreed-upon ceasefire and the removal of heavy weapons."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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