Kiev’s refusal to patrol Shirokino together with DPR disrupts peace process — DPR envoy

Kiev’s refusal to patrol the settlement of Shirokino jointly with the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) disrupts the Minsk agreements, DPR people’s council deputy chairman and envoy to Contact Group Denis Pushilin said on Friday.

“In fact, it leads to disruption of any agreements. Ukraine is trying to cling to existing disagreements in order to avoid doing anything,” Donetsk News Agency quoted Pushilin as saying.

Shirokino remains one of hot spots at the contact line in Donbass. On June 16, DPR authorities evacuated all residents from the settlement. ON July 1, DPR unilaterally announced demilitarization and withdrew all troops and weaponry from their positions there. On July 4, OSCE SMM deputy head Alexander Hug confirmed the withdrawal of all DPR units from Shirokino. DPR claims that the Ukrainian forces still remain at their positions in the region.

During telephone talks on July 23, the leaders of the “Normandy Quartet” (Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine) proposed to OSCE and JCCC (Joint Center for Control and Coordination) to develop “a practical resolution” for withdrawing Ukrainian forces from Shirokino by August 3.