Buffer Zone Agreed Upon at Ukrainian Peace Talks
Participants in Ukrainian peace talks have agreed to create a buffer zone to separate Ukrainian government troops and pro-Russian separatists.
Officials at the talks Saturday say the two sides agreed to move artillery on the front line to create a buffer zone 30 kilometers wide.
A third round of talks between representatives of Ukraine’s government and pro-Russian separatists opened Friday in Minsk, amid reports that renewed shelling in eastern Ukraine had claimed several lives.
Attending the latest meeting in Belarus’ capital were Ukraine’s former president Leonid Kuchma and several officials of the rebels’ self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics,” along with Russia’s Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov and representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
During the last meeting of the so-called Contract Group, which took place in Minsk on September 5, the representatives of Kyiv and the rebels signed a 12-point cease-fire protocol that included concessions to the separatists.
Under the agreement, which was approved by Ukraine’s parliament, the areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions under rebel control will be granted temporary special self-rule status, including the right to set up their own police forces and appoint prosecutors and judges. Ukraine’s parliament also approved a broad amnesty for many rebel fighters.
Sporadic fighting has continued in eastern Ukraine despite the cease-fire that went into effect on September 5.
Ongoing investigation
Also Friday, Russia expressed concerns about a Dutch-led investigation into the downing of a Malaysian Airlines jet over eastern Ukraine. Russia’s U.N. ambassador Vitaly Churkin called for a new investigation assisted by the United Nations.
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said Russia’s real intention is not to learn about the investigation, but to discredit it.
A preliminary Dutch report last week said the plane crashed in July because objects penetrated the fuselage, a conclusion that supports a theory the plane was shot down from the ground.
Rockets fired
Local authorities in Donetsk reported Friday that heavy weapons were being fired in parts of the city. Earlier in the day, officials said three civilians had been killed and three wounded by shelling in Donetsk and the nearby city of Makiivka.
Residents in and around the southern port city of Mariupol reported hearing Grad multiple-rocket launchers being fired Friday. There was no word of casualties, and it was unclear which side was firing the rockets.
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Friday that two soldiers had been killed and three wounded during the previous 24 hours.
Some information in this report was provided by AFP.