MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) envoy to the reconciliation talks, Denis Pushilin, said earlier the signing of the withdrawal agreement was delayed by Ukraine.
Another source in the group elaborated that Kiev refuses to pull back weaponry from four specific areas, while DPR and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) demand the withdrawal along the entire contact line.
"The Contact Group will continue to work tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. [07:00 GMT]. Its goal is to initial the agreement on the withdrawal of weaponry less than 100-mm in caliber," the source told RIA Novosti.
The agreement to pull back weapons with the caliber less than 100-mm was signed late July by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine, the so-called Normandy Quartet. It also establishes a nearly 19-mile demilitarized zone at the contact line separating Kiev-led forces and Donbass militia in Ukraine's southeast.
On July 28, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the agreement would be signed by August 3 and implemented within 10 days.
