Forces disengagement in 3 Donbas areas can contribute to opening checkpoint in Zolote
Disengagement of forces in three areas on the Donbas contact line may help open a checkpoint in Zolote, the Ukrainian Ministry for Temporary Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons said.
The ministry said in its explanatory note published on the Ukrainian government's website on Wednesday that, according to the preliminary agreements reached at the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on September 21, three zones were chosen for disengagement of the Armed Forces and armed formations of individual districts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions near the populated localities of Zolote, Petrovske and Stanytsia Luhanska.
The document said that disengagement of forces and hardware would be performed exclusively consistent with the Framework Decision's annexes to contain detailed information about geographic coordinates of the lines, the timeframes and technicalities of the withdrawal. Such measures will help create disengagement sectors, which will guarantee security for troops and the civilian population and preserve crucial infrastructures.
"The agreement prescribes the OSCE SMM taking away explosive devices in those areas no later than one day after disengagement of forces which, in particular, may promote the opening of a checkpoint in Zolote. It should be said that checkpoints will continue to operate and will be manned by relevant units," it said.
It has been agreed that the OSCE SMM will constantly perform patrolling missions and remote observation and that the pullback may be suspended and military units may be re-deployed to their former positions in case the ceasefire is breached in a disengagement zone.
The agreements reached in Minsk said that disengagement zones would be created in Donbas and the withdrawal of forces from specified areas would begin only after the OSCE SMM confirmed compliance with the ceasefire regime in each zone for a one-day period.
Precise coordinates of the zones, the withdrawal distances and perimeter will be determined only after that.
The agreements allow for the creation of similar security zones in the future.
