KIEV: Warring parties in Ukraine took a major stride towards quelling unrest in the country’s east on Thursday with the declared start of a supervised withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line.

Ukrainian and separatist officials have with noted a sharp decline in violence, although the chances of a long-lasting settlement remain clouded by lingering suspicions. While announcing the pullback, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry warned that it would revise arms withdrawal plans in the event of any attacks.

“Ukrainian troops are in state of total readiness to defend the country,” it said in a statement. The pullback was supposed to have started over a week ago under a peace deal agreed upon earlier this month by the leaders of Russia and Ukraine to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine that has killed nearly 5,800 people since April.

The intensity of fighting has declined notably in recent days, despite daily charges by both sides that the other is violating the Feb 15 cease-fire.

Rebels in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions insist they have been spent the last few days drawing back their heavy weapons — a claim not yet verified by independent observers.

Donetsk separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko mirrored Ukrainian willingness to immediately resort to combat if provoked. “Military equipment will be returned to their positions. Any attacks on our cities and villages will be nipped in the bud,” he said.

The press office for Ukrainian military operations in the east said in a statement that government forces on Thursday started moving 100 mm anti-tank guns back to the 25-kilometre minimum stipulated by the peace deal.

In Rome, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he welcomed indications of reduced fighting but repeated claims that Russia has supplied separatists with large quantities of weapons.

“Russia has transferred in recent months over 1,000 pieces of equipment — tanks, artillery, advanced air defence system — and they have to withdraw this equipment and they have to stop supporting the separatists,” Stoltenberg told reporters on Thursday. Russia denies that it arms the rebels.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2015

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