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Donetsk rebel leader inks deal on weapon withdrawal

Xinhua, October 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of independence-seeking insurgents in Donetsk region, on Wednesday has signed a deal on the withdrawal of small weapons from the frontline in eastern Ukraine.

"Today, I have signed a document fixing the cease-fire, and we will begin to implement it in a timely manner," Zakharchenko said in a statement published by the insurgent-run DAN news agency.

Under the deal on small weapon withdrawal, the Ukrainian government and rebel forces should pull tanks, mortars and artillery of less than 100 millimeter caliber back 15 kilometers from the contact line.

The agreement was reached on Tuesday during the meeting of the three-party Contact Group on the Ukraine crisis in Minsk, capital of Belarus.

Envoys from Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who attended the meeting in Minsk, have already signed it.

To come into force, the deal on small weapon withdrawal should be also approved by Igor Plotnytsky, the leader of insurgents in Lugansk region.

The confronting sides in eastern Ukraine have completed the heavy weapons pullout from the boundary line earlier in accordance with an agreement reached in mid-February in Minsk, during the talks, involving leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France. Endit