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Contact Group to discuss disengagement in four more Donbass areas

According to Ukraine’s representative, "if everything goes smoothly, then it will be a new beginning."

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KIEV, September 22. /TASS/. The members of the Contact Group on the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine will discuss the disengagement in the next four areas in Donbass, Ukraine’s representative in the Contact Yevgeny Marchuk said on Thursday. The meeting is scheduled to be held in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on October 6.

"The main goal is to ensure the weapons withdrawal along the whole line of contact. The work in three areas is starting today, another four areas have been determined already, on October 5 the details of the disengagement in these areas and the other areas along the line of contact, will be discussed," Marchuk told a briefing.

According to him, "if everything goes smoothly, then it will be a new beginning."

On September 21, the members of the Contact Group on the settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine signed a framework agreement on the withdrawal of military units and hardware in Donbass. It took the parties three months to agree on this document. At first a security zone will be created in the Luganskaya settlement, the Zolotoye settlement (in the Lugansk region) and the Petrovskoye settlement (in the Donetsk region).

The agreements says that the withdrawal of the military units is to be conducted by taking them back from their positions in both directions in order to create withdrawal areas not less than two kilometers wide and two kilometers long.

A maximum of 30 days is allotted for the disengagement process, including the necessary preparations, in each area.

The document also says that it will be "applicable to the new areas concerning the disengagement process that may be determined during future consultations.".

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