REUTERS

“In Ukraine, the situation remains fragile. But there are also signs of progress,” said Stoltenberg at a press conference ahead of the meeting of NATO Defense Ministers to be held on Thursday, October 8.

He welcomed “the renewed efforts made by the leaders of the ‘Normandy Format’ in Paris to fully implement the Minsk agreements.”

“The understanding to postpone the elections planned by the separatists is a positive step. Any election must be held under Ukrainian law,” said Stoltenberg.

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The latest announcements on withdrawal of tanks from the contact line in Donbas “creates hope and a momentum,” according to NATO Secretary General.

Stoltenberg stressed that “Russia has a special responsibility because Russia continues to support the separatists and to destabilize Eastern Ukraine.”

As UNIAN reported earlier, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko met with the leaders of parliamentary factions on Monday, declaring that the militants would announce cancellation of pseudo-elections in Donbas on October 6.

On October 2, Paris hosted a meeting of leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany and Russia on the situation in Donbas.

Poroshenko said that the participants ruled out pseudo-elections on October 18 and November 1, agreeing that such elections should be held only according to the Ukrainian legislation.

In turn, French President Francois Hollande said, the parties agreed during the negotiations that a “separate law” should be enacted to hold elections in the so-called “DPR” and “LPR.”