JohninMK Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:13 pm
Not unexpected, say one thing in public then
MOSCOW, August 4, /TASS/. The working subgroup on security issues will submit to the Contact Group two editions of an agreement on weapons withdrawal on August 26, representative of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) at the Minsk talks Vladislav Deinego said on Tuesday.
"The subgroup has just ended its meeting. The working subgroup on security has failed to reach common grounds. Opinions divided, so the text was drafted in two editions," LuganskInformCentre quoted him as saying. "One the texts indicates difference on separate sections, in a squared edition as of 22:00 yesterday. The other one is the edition Ukraine is insisting on after it turned down the agreed edition." "And now these two texts are to be considered by the Contact Group on August 26," he added.
The LPR envoy said he hoped the Normandy Four leaders would use their influence to make Kiev withdraw weapons of less than 100mm caliber from the line of engagement. He said he did not rule out that the Ukrainian side was planning an offensive at the most problem section of the contact line and that was why it was so reluctant to withdraw its troops. "These are the sections from where the Ukrainian side regularly shells [DPR and LPR territories]. And they want to reserve this possibility for themselves," he said. "Judging by their persistence on that matter without any reasonable arguments, it makes one think that Ukraine is planning an offensive at these sections."
On Monday, August 3, the Contact Group and its subgroups held a meeting in the Belarusian capital city Minsk. The meeting lasted late into the night but failed to yield one of the most expected results - the initialing of the text of the agreement on phased withdrawal of tanks, armoured vehicles and weapons of a caliber less than 100mm from the line of engagement. So, it was decided that the subgroup on security, which addressed this issue, would continue its meeting until the final text was adopted. The group resumed its session on Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday evening, the Belarusian foreign ministry said the meeting of the security subgroup was over. Apart from that, a source close to the talks told TASS the current round of talks on the Ukrainian settlement was over too.
LUGANSK (Sputnik) — In late July, the so-called Normandy Quartet, comprising Russia, France, Ukraine and Germany, agreed the withdrawal of weapons with caliber less than 100-mm and the establishment of a 30-kilometer (18.6-mile) demilitarized zone at the contact line separating Kiev-led forces and Donbass militia in Ukraine's southeast.
"The situation with the pullout of weapons with caliber less than 100-mm has been brought to a deadlock by Ukraine," the Lugansk Information Center quoted Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego as saying.
On July 28, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the agreement would be signed by August 3 and implemented within 10 days.
"We have to note a blatant sabotage by Ukraine, and point out at attempts by the Ukrainian side to derail the withdrawal by any means," the envoys stressed. According to Deinego, the Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation’s security subgroup will submit the text of the agreement to the Contact Group on August 26. Since the two sides did not manage to reach consensus on the issue, there will be two editions of the text.
A source in the talks on the weaponry withdrawal has said that Kiev refused to withdraw weaponry from four specific areas, while militias demanded withdrawal along the whole contact line.
Read more: http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150804/1025398575.html#ixzz3hsZFOdu5