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30-kilometer security zone will be set up in the village of Shyrokyne near Mariupol, requiring withdrawal of heavy weapons 15 km away from the center of the village bot by the Ukrainian forces and the Russia-backed militants, according to representative of Ukraine in the sub-working group on security issues of the Tripartite Liaison Group, former Ukrainian prime minister Yevhen Marchuk.
"Militants left Shyrokyne but did not change their artillery positions. It was agreed to set up a round-the-clock observation post of the OSCE Monitoring Mission in the center of Shyrokyne, with the number of personnel to be increased for this purpose," Marchuk reported.
According to Marchuk, the coordination of participation of Ukrainian forces and Russian militants from the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination in monitoring the situation in Shyrokyne is being completed in cooperation with the OSCE.
"Coordination with the Russian party is under way. This is a routine and stressful task – determination of exact geographic coordinates, topography, terrain assessment, tactical and strategic aspects, and much more," Marchuk wrote.
According to him, the main obstacle is that "after the Minsk agreements dated February 12, 2015 and September 2014, which were signed by the representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE, as well as the representatives of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Russian-backed militants failed to comply with their implementation."
"They have been violating these agreements, they have seized Debaltseve and part of Shyrokyne, and also invaded several so-called "gray zones " along the demarcation line and, further violating these agreements, they continue to use heavy weapons during attacks. Therefore, the Ukrainian party, which has repeatedly offered Russia several options for demilitarization of Shyrokyne, cannot start demilitarization of this village swiftly and blindly," Marchuk reported.
Marchuk wrote that the sub-group on security issues has not yet addressed the issue of demilitarization of Shyrokyne.
"At the same time, there is a very complex process under way to agree with the Russians on withdrawal of heavy weapons –100 mm artillery, 85 mm mortars, and tanks along the demarcation line at the maximum distance of their impact. Still a lot of work has to be done," according to Marchuk.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on July 2, Russian-backed militants left the village of Shyrokyne near Mariupol.
On July 3, Chairman of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Alexander Hug confirmed this information.
On July 6, presidential administration spokesman for Anti-Terrorist Operation Colonel Andriy Lysenko said that after militants had left Shyrokyne, combat action shifted north of Mariupol, where enemy had been conducting armed provocations in Mykolaivka, Starohnativka, and Chermalyk.