Ukraine and rebels hope to pull back heavy weapons as truce holds

FE Team | Published: December 11, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

MOSCOW: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaks during a live interview on the annual results of the government work to major Russian television channels here Wednesday. Dmitry Medvedev urged Russians to be patient as the ruble plunges due to fallin

KIEV, Dec 10 (AFP): The Ukrainian army and pro-Russian rebels were due to start pulling back heavy weapons from the frontline on Wednesday, a day after a ceasefire that aims to end eight months of brutal war in the east of the country.
Residents in the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk experienced an unfamiliar silence overnight as a tentative truce appeared to be holding, according to AFP journalists.
Interviews with people along the frontline confirmed the ceasefire was being largely respected throughout the conflict zone.
A tank commander in Tonenke near the contested airport in Donetsk said "there has been calm for 24 hours".
In Pisky, a village controlled by the Ukrainian army near the airport, volunteers with the ultranationalist Pravy Sektor group said there was sporadic gunfire and "very rarely" some heavy artillery shots, but the peace was largely being observed.
If this ceasefire -- the fourth since the separatist war broke out in April -- holds, both sides are due to start pulling back their heavy weaponry to create a 30-kilometre (20-mile) buffer zone on Wednesday.
There was less certainty over the fate of peace talks, which the government had hoped would start in the Belarussian capital Minsk at the same time as the ceasefire.
Rebel leader Andrei Purgin told AFP on Wednesday that the two sides were still discussing a date and agenda for talks, but he expected them to go ahead on Friday.
Another rebel leader, Denis Pushilin, said they were due to hold a video conference later in the day along with Russian and Western observers.
He said the rebels wanted to focus negotiations on ending the economic blockade of the two rebel-held provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk.
Kiev has cut off all banking and welfare services to the rebel-held areas in recent weeks, arguing that residents are being taxed by separatist leaders to fund the war.
The rebels also said they were open to discussing greater autonomy for the region, along with a prisoner exchange and amnesty for separatist fighters.
These points were part of an earlier ceasefire agreement in September which failed to stop the fighting. At the time, the rebels had rejected the offer of greater autonomy, saying they wanted full independence.