LUHANSK. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The process of withdrawing forces and weapons from the contact line in Stanytsia Luhanska has not been completed because of the conflicting parties' failure to adhere to the ceasefire in that area, Alexander Hug, deputy head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM), said.
No withdrawal of forces took place in Stanytsia Luhanska, as was stipulated earlier, but the signatories to the agreement agreed on a certain process, on how it should proceed, Hug told a press conference in Luhansk.
One of the conditions for the withdrawal of forces and weapons in Stanytsia Luhanska is adherence to the ceasefire on the withdrawal site, he said.
OSCE SMM reports contain objective information about neither party adhering to the ceasefire, which is the main reason why the disengagement process in Stanytsia Luhanska is not over yet, Hug said.
The OSCE SMM can only urge the parties to stick to what they agreed to and will invariably reflect in its reports what it sees and whether or not the conflicting parties stick to agreements, he said.
Earlier on Friday Vladislav Deinego, the authorized representative of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in the Contact Group, which mediates the Donbas conflict, said that the LPR is ready for a withdrawal of forces and weapons from the contact line in Stanytsia Luhanska area.
On September 21, 2016, the Contact Group in Minsk signed a framework agreement on disengagement in Donbas. In Zolote, a populated locality, the disengagement took place on October 1, 2016. On October 7 the parties removed forces in the Petrivske area. A withdrawal in the Stanytsia Luhanska area was scheduled for October 9.
However, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said it moved the withdrawal deadline in that area until October 13 but even then no withdrawal took place. Later, despite the expiration of the 30-day withdrawal period, there were repeated withdrawal attempts which have so far proved unsuccessful.