Kiev delays disengagement by demands of 7-day ceasefire – Nikonorov

Donetsk, Oct 30 – DAN. Ukrainian side demands a seven-day ceasefire as a precondition to disengagement t in Petrovskoye to protract the process, said DPR representative at the security subgroup at the Minsk talks Alexey Nikonorov.

Earlier Ukraine’s representative in the same group Bogdan Bondar said that disengagement might be started in Petrovskoye on November 4-5 on the condition the ceasefire is observed in the area for seven days.

“This condition is not a requirement and it has not been coordinated at the Minsk talks, thus Ukraine’s focus on the issue is nothing but an attempt to delay the (start) of elimination of violations in the disengagement area  Petrovskoye-Bogdanovka as much as possible,” Nikonorov said.

Ukraine was supposed to withdraw its forces from the demilitarized zone on October 9-10, but it has derailed the process.

The disengagement was completed in the Petrovskoye zone in October 2016 for the first time. Later Ukraine troops infiltrated back. Donetsk has been demanding to restore parity ever since.*ot