Ukrainian nationalists have staged a series of protests against President Volodymyr Zelensky's peace process with Moscow-backed separatists (AFP Photo/GENYA SAVILOV) |
Kiev (AFP) - The Ukrainian army and Moscow-backed separatists said Tuesday they had begun to withdraw their troops from a key area in the war-torn east ahead of a high-stakes summit with Russia.
The
long-awaited pullback is a precondition for the first face-to-face talks
between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr
Zelensky, to be mediated by the leaders of France and Germany.
"The
process of troop withdrawal began by both sides... in the area of
Zolote-4" in the Lugansk region, Ukraine's army said on Facebook.
Monitors
from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe confirmed the
move.
"Today
the sides have just resumed the withdrawal of troops and arms in Zolote,"
Martin Sajdik, an OSCE special representative, told journalists.
"I
think that we did a lot to bring about the Normandy (summit)," Zelensky
told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, referring to the name given to the
internationally-mediated talks.
The rival
forces also need to withdraw troops from the village of Petrivske in the
Donetsk region for the summit to go ahead.
Map of
Ukraine showing regions controlled by pro-Russian separatists and
Crimea which
was annexed by Russia (AFP Photo/Sébastien CASTERAN)
|
'Surrender'
Since
coming to power in May, comedian-turned-president Zelensky has sought to revive
a peace process to end a five-year-old separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine
that has claimed some 13,000 lives.
But those
efforts have stalled as Kiev's forces and the separatists have repeatedly
failed to pull back troops from the frontline because of exchanges of gunfire.
Zelensky's
peace plan including the troop pullback has been strongly criticised by many in
Kiev, especially war veterans and nationalists.
Some 300
Ukrainians heeded the calls of veterans and nationalists to protest outside the
presidential office against the withdrawal of troops, chanting: "No
surrender!".
The same
calls have been made over the past few weeks, as thousands of Ukrainians including
Zelensky's predecessor Petro Poroshenko have protested in the capital Kiev and
other cities.
Various
nationalist organisations even deployed their own troops to Zolote in an effort
to prevent a retreat of Ukrainian forces.
Last week
the 41-year-old Ukrainian president was forced to personally travel to Zolote
in an effort to persuade his nationalist critics not to stand in the way of the
peace process.
Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed to withdraw troops in key
parts of the war-torn
east of the country (AFP Photo/TIMOTHY A. CLARY)
|
"We
have to look for ways and work to end the war," Zelensky said Saturday
during his trip to the village.
"There
will be no surrender in any case... I am sure we will succeed and Ukraine will
be united again."
Special
status
Putin's
aide Vladislav Surkov expressed satisfaction about the move.
"If
everything works out in Zolote, similar procedures in Petrivske should follow
immediately," he told Russia's TASS news agency.
Political
opponents were quick to criticise Zelensky on Tuesday.
Ivanna
Klympush-Tsintsadze, a lawmaker from Poroshenko's party, called the troop withdrawal
a "capitulation on the Kremlin's conditions".
Another
opposition party Golos condemned Zelensky for breaking his own promise to
withdraw troops only after fighting stops for seven days, while there was
shooting across the frontline as recently as the weekend.
13,000
people have died since the conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014
(AFP
Photo/Sergei SUPINSKY)
|
"The
withdrawal of troops without fulfilling the conditions of the 7-day silence
regime is unacceptable," the party said in a statement.
"Such
actions of the president and his team are a mistake," it said.
In the
run-up to the planned summit, Ukrainian, Russian and separatist negotiators
also agreed on a roadmap that envisages a special status for the separatist
territories if they conduct free and fair elections under the Ukrainian
constitution.
Critics say
the proposal favours Russia but Zelensky has pledged not to betray Ukraine's
interests.
Ties
between Ukraine and Russia were shredded after a bloody uprising ousted a
Kremlin-backed regime in 2014.
Moscow went
on to annex Crimea and support insurgents in eastern Ukraine.
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