Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Council President Donald Tusk visited new positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Stanytsia Luhanska in Donbas on Sunday, the headquarters of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said.

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Council President Donald Tusk visited the first sector of disengagement of the forces and military hardware in Stanytsia Luhanska," the headquarters wrote on Facebook.

During the trip the delegation was accompanied by Chief of the General Staff and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Lieut. Gen. Ruslan Khomchak, JFO Commander Lieut. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky and head of the Ukrainian State Border Service Serhiy Deineko.

At the Stanytsia Luhanska border checkpoint Zelensky and Tusk familiarized themselves with the current situation in this sector. The Ukrainian president and the European Council president also talked to members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) and to local residents, and studied those humanitarian projects, which are being implemented with EU's support.

The supreme commander-in-chief also inspected new positions of the JFO forces in this sector of disengagement.

The opposing side completed the first stage of withdrawing its forces and retreated from a pedestrian bridge in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska in line with the peace plan and the implementation of the Trilateral Contact Group's Framework Decision dated September 20, 2016, the JFO press center said on June 27.

On June 29, the OSCE SMM received the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry note, which said that the pullback of the Ukrainian army forces and military hardware in the sector of disengagement that has been determined in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska is complete.

On June 30, the Mission received a letter from representatives of districts of Luhansk region outside Kyiv's control, which said that they have completed the disengagement of forces and military hardware in the sector of disengagement that has been approved in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska.

On the same day, Ukrainian envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group Leonid Kuchma told Interfax-Ukraine that the OSCE SMM will verify the pullback of the forces from the Stanytsia Luhanska area by both sides and present a final conclusion soon.