MOSCOW,
January 19. /TASS/. Moscow has urged Kiev and militias of the self-proclaimed
Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) to use the opportunity to
withdraw weaponry from the conflict zone, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a
statement on Monday.
“In
connection with the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s statement of January 18, we
draw attention to the following. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s letter
addressed to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was sent in response to the Ukrainian side’s request made during
telephone contacts between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine,” the ministry
said. “The letter proposes to urgently start the withdrawal of heavy weaponry
of the sides — both of the Ukrainian security structures and militias of Donbas
(DPR and LPR) from the contact line in accordance with the Minsk agreements and
the positions on which the Ukrainian side insists. The table containing the
sides’ actions under the schedule of withdrawal of each type of cannonry and
missile artillery has also been sent.”
The parameters proposed in the
table are similar to the heavy weaponry withdrawal schedule contained in the
working document of November 13, 2014, the fulfillment of which was urged by
the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry in its statement of January 18, the Russian
ministry said.
In the light of the aforementioned,
Moscow “strongly advises the Ukrainian side not to replace the professional
military deescalation efforts with the rhetoric meant for foreign policy.” “If
Kiev really sincerely wants to conduct a mutual withdrawal of heavy weaponry
with people’s militias in accordance with the withdrawal parameters specified
by the Minsk memorandum of September 19, 2014 and confirmed by the working
document on November 13, 2014, then immediate practical action should be taken
on site, the more so that the leaders of DPR and LPR (self-proclaimed Donetsk
and Lugansk People’s Republics in the south-east of Ukraine) have already
signed the coordinated schedule,” the ministry said.
Source: Truth about situation in Ukraine 19-01-2015
