Donetsk, Oct 24 – DAN. DPR and LPR have submitted seven areas for consideration as zones of the 2nd stage of disengagement of forces and hardware along the contact line. After Kiev puts its proposals on table four areas are to be agreed upon, according to the Republic's representatives to Minsk talks Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego who spoke to the TASS News Agency.
"We provided five areas, you (DPR) – two. Ukraine has to come forward with its (proposals). The four will be picked out from the sum," Deinego explained.
"We gave our options, Ukraine has to provide its," Pushilin added.
Deinego also noted that Ukraine has been protracting the disengagement in Stanitsa Luganskaya area as it wishes to avoid shifting to the next stage of conflict settlement which envisages securing Donbass special status, amnesty law and implementing other points of the Minsk Agreements. LPR envoy believes that failing to follow the Framework Agreement on disengagement serves as a pretext for Kiev's protracting peaceful settlement.
The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France met on Oct. 19-20 in Berlin, the negotiations lasted for more than five hours behind closed doors. No documents were signed after the four-way talks, though the sides agreed to draw up a roadmap in November on how to implement a Minsk agreement, which could pave the way for de-escalation. The participants reiterated the adherence to Minsk Agreements, which they said are the only way to bring peace to the region. DPR supported the decision.
Ukraine's president Petr Poroshenko said that Kiev insists on demilitarizing Debaltsevo, while DPR declared against.
The Contact Group participants (DPR, LPR, Ukraine, Russia and OSCE) signed the framework agreement on disengagement of forces on September 21-23. The document sets the procedure for withdrawing the army units of the conflicting parties in three pilot areas: Petrovskoye in the DPR and Stanitsa Luganskaya and Zolotoye in the Lugansk People’s Republic.
A security zone has been specified for each area, with a width and length of least two kilometers. The disengagement was carried out in Zolotoye on October, 1st, in Petrovskoye on October, 7th. Kiev has failed to arrange the pullback in Stanitsa Luganskaya area.