Ukraine insists on hardware withdrawal in Petrivske area in Donbas only after its withdrawal from Stanytsia Luhanska - Kuchma

12:30, 07.10.2016 1 min read

The withdrawal of forces and equipment in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska, the Luhansk region, will only happen after a successful withdrawal of hardware from the relevant area near Petrivske, the Donetsk region, provided that the regime of calm is observed, the Ukrainian representative to the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in Donbas Leonid Kuchma said.

"We raised the issue on principle yesterday, that we will not withdraw [the forces and equipment in the areas near Petrivske and Stanytsia Luhanska] simultaneously, because there were 18 shelling in the recent days from [September] 22 to [October] 4, and the framework agreement clearly stipulates: 'a complete ceasefire', so we will initiate this process then. We will see tomorrow. First we will see tomorrow [in Petrivske], whether we will have an opportunity to continue in Stanytsia Luhanska on Sunday or not," Kuchma told reporters during a working visit to the town of Obukhiv on Thursday.