Donetsk republic calls for returning to Normandy format talks due to Kiev’s actions

Ukraine’s Donetsk republic (DPR) calls for returning to the Normandy format (Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine) due to Kiev’s position in the Contact Group, DPR’s envoy Denis Pushilin said on Wednesday.

“Kiev is already doing everything possible not to allow withdrawal of weaponry of less than 100mm caliber. Kiev has already tried to introduce amendments, exclude four positions from which Donetsk and Gorlovka are shelled… This situation should once again be raised in the Nomrandy format because Kiev is acting inappropriately,” Pushilin told Rossiya 24 TV channel.

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. The sub-group continue negotiations on Tuesday but no final deal was made.

The Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) envoy to Contact Group Vladislav Deinego said that the sub-group will present two versions of the document on weaponry withdrawal at the next meeting of the Contact Group on August 26. One version will outline disagreements on separate points of the document coordinated by the Contact Group. The second version will state Ukraine’s position “after it refused the coordinated version.”
On July 18, the Donetsk and Luhansk republics (DPR and LPR) announced their plans to unilaterally withdraw heavy weaponry from the engagement line. By late July, said it had 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 phased withdrawal of weaponry of less than 100mm caliber by both sides.