Donetsk, Oct 14 – DAN DPR envoy to Minsk talks Denis Pushilin called Ukrainian actions on first Donbass disengagement of forces and hardware "absurd".
"Ukraine has been continuously protracting the pullback of forces, the situation along the line of contact deteriorates," he said. "Ukraine keeps shelling DPR towns, provocations persist. So they carry out strikes and say they cannot pullback because of it. This is completely absurd."
Pushilin reminded that DPR is ready for the next stage of withdrawal, but Kiev's unwillingness to ceasefire makes it impossible.
DPR Head Alexander Zakharchenko signed the Agreement on the Disengagement of Forces and Hardware in Donbass on September, 23. Earlier the document was signed by LPR Head Igor Plotnitsky and representatives of OSCE, Russia and Ukraine. The framework agreement covers disengagement of forces and military hardware in three zones: near Petrovskoye in DPR and Zolotoye and Stanitsa Luganskaya in LPR.
The Contact Group planned to coordinate new zones for bilateral withdrawals in future.
The first ever disengagement of DPR and Ukrainian forces took place on October, 7 in Petrovskoye area. The units pulled back at a distance of 2 km from their positions. In LPR area of responsibility the disengagement was completed in Zolotoye are, while in Stanitsa Luganskaya it was several times disrupted by Ukraine.