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Donetsk leader says weapons may be withdrawn from ten more areas

Earlier the Contact Group agreed on the principles and a timeframe for disengaging forces of Kiev and militias in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions

Donetsk People’s Republic to the Minsk talks Denis Pushilin Zurab Javakhadze/TASS

Donetsk People’s Republic to the Minsk talks Denis Pushilin

© Zurab Javakhadze/TASS

DONETSK, September 23. /TASS/. The disengagement of forces and hardware on the contact line in Donbass is possible in ten more areas, envoy of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic to the Minsk talks Denis Pushilin said on Friday.

"If this experience (disengagement of forces) is successful, then there will be ten more such areas of withdrawal," Pushilin was quoted by the Donetsk News Agency as saying.

Read also

Kiev says weapons withdrawal in Donbass to begin this week

On September 21, the participants of the Contact Group on settlement in eastern Ukraine signed a framework agreement on disengaging the warring parties in Donbass. The discussion on the document had lasted for three months. The Contact Group agreed on the principles and a timeframe for disengaging forces of Kiev and militias in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

The first stage envisages the creation of security zones in three areas - near Zolotoye, Stanitsa Luganskaya and Petrovsky. The troops are withdrawn to create security zones "not less than 2 km in width and 2 km in depth." The entire process of disengaging forces and hardware, including the preparations for it, should last for no more than 30 days for each area.

The document also says that the disengagement of forces may be conducted in other areas after consultations.

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