Contact group on Ukraine crisis agrees on separating forces in Donbas

The Contact Group on Ukraine crisis signed on Wednesday a framework deal on separating the conflicting forces in the country's eastern region of Donbas, said a spokesperson for Kiev's delegate.

"The document envisages the de-escalation near the contact line and actually creates the conditions under which small arms cannot be used for attacks," Darka Olifer, spokesperson for Ukraine's representative in the group Leonid Kuchma, wrote on her Facebook page.

At the first stage, the Ukrainian government and independence-seeking insurgents will withdraw their weapons and troops from three clearly-defined sections of the contact line, Olifer said, noting that in the future the separation of forces could be carried out along the entire frontline.

International observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will monitor the withdrawal process, she added.

The pullback of weapons from the contact line in eastern Ukraine is one of the key provisions of the Minsk peace deal signed in early 2015, designed to put an end to the conflict, which has already killed more than 9,600 people.

If implemented, the measure could pave the way for a sustainable ceasefire and realization of political steps prescribed in the deal. Endi