According to the agreement reached at the meeting of the Contact Group on January 16, the Donetsk People’s Republic has sent the OSCE SMM proposals indicating three locations, a list of corresponding coordinates and a map of areas for a potential withdrawal of forces and equipment, the DPR Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.
The options were formed based on proposals from the defense agencies taking into account the security interests of the borders of the Donetsk People’s Republic, including reducing tension at the contact line in order to ensure the maximum security and safety for civilians.
The DPR Foreign Ministry also noted the unpreparedness of the Ukrainian side to provide the exact coordinates of the locations they propose for new disengagement areas at the last meeting of the working group on security issues, which did not allow us to proceed to a specific discussion.
“We hope that the Ukrainian side will fulfill its obligations on time and at the next meeting on January 29 the negotiators will have something to discuss in detail.
In addition, given the fact that all the three pilot areas, Stanitsa Luganskaya, Zolotoye and Petrovskoye, were proposed by the Ukrainian side, we expect that the proposals of the republics will become priority for approval this time,” the Foreign Ministry stated.