Poroshenko met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a long-awaited summit in Paris. It was the first meeting since the leaders worked out a peace deal in Minsk in February.
That accord has been troubled, but there have been signs of progress in recent weeks, including a breakthrough agreement this week on withdrawing tanks and many weapons.
After the meeting, Poroshenko said his government would begin the pullback Saturday, according to Russian news agencies.
Putin's spokesman later hailed the start of the weapons withdrawal as a "positive development."
Local elections planned this month in areas under the control of Russian-backed separatists will be postponed by at least three months.
"We don't want elections to take place in eastern Ukraine that do not respect the Minsk deal," Hollande said. He said there was a need for "time to draw up a law, an electoral law that perfectly conforms" to international standards.
The announcement came after Poroshenko said his government would pass a bill granting a specific status to those regions. In return, Putin promised to have an envoy discuss the election issues with rebel leaders to get them to agree on the delay.
“We tackled contentious points one by one. The elections will be delayed, but this meeting is something positive,” Merkel said at a joint news conference with Hollande at the Elysée Palace. “The two parties held good discussions.”
The separatist rebels launched an uprising in March 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea, seeking to similarly break away from Kyiv after a pro-European Union government took power there.
Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of covertly supporting the rebels with troops and weapons, a claim Moscow denies.
The rebels, who now seek greater autonomy within a united Ukraine, want to hold local elections on their own terms, which include barring all pro-Kyiv candidates and holding the polls on days other than those planned in the rest of Ukraine
voanews.com
2/10/15
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NATO helps Ukraine create its military doctrine ( Ukraine’s defense minister )
Russia still arming Ukraine rebels despite truce (NATO chief)
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Ukraine crisis: 'Weapons pullout begins'...
ReplyDeleteUkraine's government forces and pro-Russian rebels say they have begun withdrawing weapons from the line of contact in the east of the country.
Ukrainian officials said inventory work began on Saturday morning with the actual pullback to start in the afternoon.
The rebels in the Luhansk region said they were withdrawing tanks.
Both sides have committed to pulling out materiel carrying weapons with less than 100mm (4in) calibre.
The rebels in the Donetsk region were quoted as saying that they would start pulling out their weapons on 18 October.
The withdrawal process is yet to be verified by international monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The pullout date was announced at a meeting of leaders from Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany on Friday............BBC