The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) has said that militants from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics are not honoring the Minsk agreement to pull out heavy artillery from the war zone in Donbas.
“The first provision of the Minsk agreement stipulating a ceasefire has not been fulfilled. Our positions have been attacked 22 times over the past 24 hours,” NSDC information and analytical center spokesman Andriy Lysenko said at a press briefing on Thursday, Dec. 11.
Hence, it would be premature to speak about withdrawing artillery weapons with calibers larger than 100 millimeters, Lysenko said.
The beginning pullout of heavy artillery declared by militants aims to “mislead the West and claim fulfillment of their commitments,” he said.
Whenever artillery is moved, this is done only to change firing positions, Lysenko noted.
It became clear on Wednesday that the next meeting of the Contact Group on the Donbas situation, which had been scheduled for Dec. 9 at first and December 12 in a later period, would be delayed indefinitely. The meeting was due to approve a schedule for the implementation of the Minsk agreement, including the ceasefire and heavy weaponry withdrawals, as well as their supervision by the OSCE.
Another ceasefire was declared in the conflict zone on the morning of Dec. 9.
