KIEV, October 6. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Saturday met with heads of security and defense agencies to discuss the disengagement of troops in Eastern Ukraine, his press service said.
According to the press service, the president met with Chief of the General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Foreign Minister Vadim Pristayko on Saturday.
"The participants discussed the security situation in Donbass, in particular in the area of the Pokrovskoye and Zolotoye villages, where disengagement is scheduled to take place," the presidential administration said in a statement.
According to the Zelensky, the safety of Ukrainians, especially of the population in the disengagement zone, and sustainable peace in the east of the country, remained his priorities.
Soon, Ukrainian officials are to visit Pokrovskoye, Zolotoye and Stanitsa Luganskaya to make sure that local residents are not under threat.
A framework agreement on disengagement of forces in Donbass was signed by Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE and the self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Lugansk in September 2016.
Under the agreement, security zones are to be created at three sections of the line of contact, namely near Petrovskoye (in the Donetsk People’s Republic, or DPR), Zolotoye and Stanitsa Luganskaya (both in the Lugansk People’s Republic, or LPR). The agreement envisages withdrawal of armed forces from the line of contact to create security zones at least one kilometer wide and one kilometer deep.
The disengagement process was completed near Zolotoye and Petrovskoye in October 2016. Ukrainian troops however returned their former positions some time later. During the October 1 meeting of the Contact Group on Ukrainian reconciliation, the start of another disengagement attempt was scheduled for October 7. The sides agreed to start the pullback of troops without waiting for the ceasefire to last for seven days.
