DONETSK. June 25 (Interfax) - A new agreement on the withdrawal of weapons with calibers smaller than 100mm from the contact line in Donbas could be signed before the end of this week, chief negotiator of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin has said.
"We have prepared almost all necessary documents. Only technical details have yet to be sorted out. That is why there is a high probability that we will be able to sign it before the end of this week," Pushilin told the Donetsk news agency on Thursday.
For the DPR, "it is extremely important to document the withdrawal of hardware with calibers smaller than 100mm," he said.
"This will allow us to register violations, if they occur. And practice shows that there have been violations as far as heavy weapons with calibers over 100mm are concerned," he said.
The removal of weapons over 100mm caliber from the contact line in Donbas is a requirement included in the Set of Measures to implement the peace deal for Ukraine, agreed upon by the trilateral Contact Group in the Belarusian capital Minsk on February 12.
When commenting on a June 23 meeting of the 'Normandy Quartet' foreign ministers, Pushilin expressed hope that this meeting would possibly prompt Kyiv to take actual steps to settle the situation in Donbas.
"Regrettably, since the last few meetings of the Contact Group showed quite weak dynamics in discussing and adopting some decisions, I believe that the meeting in Paris was necessary in principle. It should prompt the Ukrainian side to engage in a real negotiating process, not its imitation," Pushilin said.
The DPR, for its part, is doing everything it can to settle the conflict peacefully and is implementing all points of the February 12 Set of Measures adopted in Minsk, he added.