MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The issue of heavy weaponry withdrawal from the line of contact between independence supporters and Kiev forces in southeastern Ukraine (Donbas) could be resolved during the Tuesday Contact Group videoconference, a source familiar with the course of its preparation has told RIA Novosti.
Late on Monday, deputy commander of DPR militia Eduard Basurin told RIA Novosti that he had no information on the start of weaponry withdrawal. No reports of a pullout came during the night.
Earlier on Monday Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko announced at a press briefing that Kiev was not ready to withdraw its heavy artillery from the conflict zone in the eastern regions of Ukraine.
Meanwhile Basurin confirmed the readiness of militias in southeastern Ukraine to withdraw heavy artillery if the Minsk ceasefire agreement is observed. Speaking to the Rossiya-24 TV channel the deputy commander stressed, however, that a full ceasefire would be difficult to implement.
The ceasefire itself came into force on Sunday, February 15, at midnight (Kiev time). Later in the day, the head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine announced that the truce was generally holding.
This is the second ceasefire agreed upon between Kiev forces and independence fighters. The first such agreement was reached during a Contact Group meeting in Minsk in September of last year, however, clashes continued in southeastern Ukraine through the end of 2014 and intensified at the start of 2015.
