MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2019) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said preparations were underway for carrying out separation of forces near the settlements of Petrivske and Zolote in the conflict-torn Donbas region.
"At the moment, there are some preparations for the separation [of forces] in Petrivske and Zolote. But the separation is not happening there due to violation of a ceasefire. But I believe that everything will happen and a meeting in the Normandy format will be the next step. I do not have any further information," Zelenskyy said in the interview with the Ukrainian Segodnya news outlet, published on Wednesday.
According to Zelenskyy, the mutual withdrawal of forces in Stanytsia Luhanska, Petrivske and Zolote and the agreement on the so-called Steinmeier formula peace plan are conditions for holding the next Normandy Four summit between Moscow, Kiev, Paris and Berlin.
In late June, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine confirmed the mutual withdrawal of forces of Ukraine's military and the groups which are not under the government's control in Stanytsia Luhanska. The mission added it was monitoring the situation.
The Steinmeier formula, envisaging the mutual withdrawal of forces, granting special status to the breakaway republics within Ukraine and holding elections there, among other things, was agreed upon by the representatives of the Contact Group on Ukraine on October 1. The separation was supposed to begin on October 7, but the sides have failed to implement it and accused each other of violating the required ceasefire regime in the area.
Moreover, Kiev's agreement on the peace plan has sparked protests in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that since Kiev had done everything that depended on it, it expected the Normandy Four leaders to convene in the near future.
The Kremlin, in its turn, recalled that Kiev had not yet formulated a clear approach to the Steinmeier formula and had not fulfilled agreements on disengagement of troops and hardware near Petrivske and Zolote.
