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Lugansk ready to implement deal on disengaging forces in Donbass — leader

The document signed by the Contact Group on September 21 implies the creation of security zones in three areas

© Mikhail Sokolov/TASS

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Kiev says weapons withdrawal in Donbass to begin this week

LUGANSK, September 22. /TASS/. The self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic is ready to fulfill the new deal on disengaging forces in Donbass signed in Minsk, its leader Igor Plotnitsky told reporters on Thursday.

The representatives of the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk republics at the meeting of the Contact Group in Minsk on September 21 initialed a framework agreement signed by the representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE on the disengagement of forces in Donbass.

The document implies the creation of security zones in three areas - near Zolotoye, Stanitsa Luganskaya and Petrovsky. The deal is expected to be signed by the leaders of the LPR and DPR and the copies will be handed over to the other parties of the Minsk process through the OSCE representatives.

"In the near future, I will sign (the agreement)," Plotnitsky said. Two of these zones are located in the Lugansk republic and one in the Donetsk republic, he added. "Let’s see how all this is implemented in the near future. The idea is good, we are ready to implement it, we are ready for such a development of events."

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The LPR leader reminded that several attempts to launch peaceful process in Donbass have been made before but every time the ceasefire was broken due to Kiev’s fault.

"We have attempted to implement this Package of Measures many times, starting from withdrawing military hardware with the caliber of more than 100mm and more. And the same outcome was that Ukraine did not implement the Package of Measures," Plotnitsky reminded, expressing hope that this time the Ukrainian side’s line will change. "We have always said that there is no alternative to the Minsk agreements, and we should go this way," he stressed. "Our representatives note that Ukraine’s delegates have indeed started working rather than playing cunning.".

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