Contact Group’s sub-group on security resumes negotiations in Minsk - Belarusian foreign ministry

MINSK, August 4. /TASS/. The Contact Group on Ukraine’s sub-group on security has resumed its work, Belarusian foreign ministry wrote on its Twitter microblog page on Tuesday. "The sub-group on security has resumed negotiations in Minsk," the foreign ministry said. The meetings of the Contact Group on settlement of the situation in Ukraine and sub-groups started on August 3 and continued into the night. However, the sides failed to reach an agreement on one of the most pressing issues - signing the document on gradual withdrawal of tanks, armored personnel carriers and weaponry of less than 100mm caliber from the contact line. It was announced that the sub-group will continue negotiations until the final deal is made. Envoys of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics (DPR and LPR) Denis Pushilin and Vladislav Deinego said that the text of the agreement was coordinated at the last Contact Group’s session on July 21. "The text of the document coordinated on July 21 went to a trash bin. A new version has been coordinated today, but Ukraine said ‘stop’ when preparing for signing it. We get an impression that it is just playing with the document," Deinego said. Pushilin stressed that the document was not signed because of the Ukrainian side. Minsk agreements on Ukraine The Minsk accords were signed on February 12, after negotiations in the so-called "Normandy format" in the Belarusian capital Minsk, bringing together Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko. The talks lasted for around 14 hours. Simultaneously, a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukrainian settlement was held in Minsk. The Minsk accords envisage ceasefire, weaponry withdrawal, prisoner exchange, local elections in Donbass, constitutional reform in Ukraine and establishing working sub-groups on security, political, economy and humanitarian components of the Minsk accords. The Ukrainian forces and the self-defense forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics have repeatedly accused each other of violating ceasefire and other points of the Minsk agreements. Weaponry withdrawal On July 18, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics (DPR and LPR) announced their plans to unilaterally withdraw heavy weaponry from the contact line. DPR announced last week that it completed the withdrawal of weaponry of less than 100mm caliber from the contact line, leaving tanks only in "hot spots" to the north of Donetsk and in Debaltsevo. LPR also completed the withdrawal of weaponry from the contact line, leaving tanks and armored vehicles only on positions near the Schastye settlement. On July 21, the Contact Group on Ukrainian settlement reached an agreement on gradual withdrawal of weaponry of less than 100mm caliber by both sides. Read more