LUHANSK. Oct 7 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian side may derail the disengagement of forces and military hardware along the contact line in Donbas, spokesman for the militia of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) Ivan Filiponenko said.
"Fighters of the Azov battalion arrived in the area of the populated locality of Zolote-4 and said they are ready to protect the populated locality in the case of the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops [...] Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that 'during the pullback of Ukrainian troops in Donbas fortification installations will not be removed if there is a need to return there'. We are concerned by the likelihood of disrupting the scheduled peace process and the possible deterioration of the situation along the combat contact line," Filiponenko told reporters on Monday.
In this regard, he urged representatives of the United Nations and the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to influence the Ukrainian political leadership "in order to prevent the thwarting of peace initiatives, which were suggested by representatives of the Normandy Four countries."