Donetsk, Jan 26 – DAN. Ukraine refused to pull back its army units to an acceptable 1.5 kilometre distance from Donetsk water treatment plant (DFS), DPR envoy to Minsk talks Denis Pushilin said on Thursday.
“At today’s video conference, DPR offered to sign the document prohibiting the presence of any armed groups within a radius of 1.5 kilometres from DFS,” Pushilin said in a statement received by Donetsk News Agency.
“Regrettably, Ukraine ignored not only the proposal, but also the document signed by Ukrainian military in March 2016,” he said.
He added that the only compromise was the one suggested by Contact Group coordinator Martin Sajdik to discuss the issue at the Security subgroup’s next meeting in Minsk.
The DPR envoy warned that mounting tensions in DFS area and Ukrainian forces provocations might result in environmental disaster such as DFS chlorine leak.
Earlier, DPR Operations Command said Ukrainian forces had moved their positions to DFS area contrary to the Minsk agreements. A Ukrainian observation checkpoint is located 200 meters from DFS, permissible distance being 1.5 kilometres.
Donetsk water treatment plant, located between Yasinovataya and Kiev-controlled Avdeyevka has long been a trouble spot on the contact line in Donbass.
It supplies water to both sides of the contact line, DPR-controlled Donetsk and Yasinovataya and Vasilyevka and Spartak villages, and Kiev-controlled Avdeyevka, Krasnogorovka and Verkhnetoretskoye village. DFS repeatedly came under fire and suspended operation. *jk