Updated 12:40 p.m. Moscow time
MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) – Both militia and Kiev government troops fulfill their obligation to withdraw heavy weaponry from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) said Wednesday.
“[The withdrawal of heavy weaponry] is already taking place. It is carried out under the OSCE control. They pull back their military hardware, we pull back ours,” Igor Plotnitsky said.
He also noted that LPR has an interest in pulling out its heavy weapons and equipment, as it would make shelling of residential areas impossible.
The Kiev government and the pro-independence forces of southeastern Ukraine agreed on a ceasefire at the September 5 meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk. Another meeting of the group, held on September 19, which included delegations from Russia, Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), resulted in the adoption of a nine-point memorandum, specifying the provisions of the ceasefire.
In particular, the document obliged the sides to pull heavy weaponry out of residential areas and to move their artillery at least 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) away from the contact line, establishing a 30-kilometer buffer zone. Also, the area is subject to the OSCE monitoring.