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DPR defence ministry: talks on demilitarization in Shirokino to be held next week

MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. Talks on the withdrawal of Ukrainian weapons and demilitarization in the settlement of Shirkino will be held next week, Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the defence ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said on Sunday.

"We expect that talks will be held next week to have Ukraine withdraw its weapons and begin demilitarization in Shirokino," The Donetsk News Agency quoted him as saying.

Basurin said the consultations would be held within the framework of a subgroup on security of the Contact Group on Ukrainian settlement.

Earlier, Russia’s Permanent Representative at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Andrei Kelin said that an agreement in principle on the demilitarization in Shirokino and withdrawal of 100mm caliber weapons had been reached at the level of the Contact Group.

The settlement of Shirkino, located mid-way between government-controlled Mariupol and DPR-controlled Novoazovsk, is the most troubled area adjacent to the line of engagement between the conflicting parties.