Luhansk, Kyiv to clear area near Stanytsia Luhanska of mines simultaneously - Deinego
LUHANSK. July 31 (Interfax) - Envoys of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) and Ukraine to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) for settlement of the Donbas crisis have agreed to take mine clearance efforts in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska in parallel, LPR Foreign Minister Vladislav Deinego said.
"First and foremost, in efforts to ensure security of repairing works [on the bridge in Stanytsia Luhanska] the territory should be cleared of mines and dangerous objects in the area of rebuilding it [the bridge], and the security for building equipment should be provided," Deinego said on Wednesday.
The LPR and Ukraine agreed to carry out these measures "in parallel", he said. "The LPR directly on the ruined bridge span and at a distance of 125 meters from it along its sides and towards the river, while Ukraine along the road and at a distance of 125 meters along it and from the edge of the collapse of the bridge," the minister said.
The sides agreed to undertake mine clearance near Stanytsia Luhanska "for several hours a day" in order "not to stop the passage of people [through the Stanytsia Luhanska checkpoint between the territory of the LPR and Ukraine] for long," he said. "For this purpose the sides with the assistance of the OSCE SMM [Special Monitoring Mission] will soon approve the working schedule of the checkpoint for the time of mine clearance efforts," Deinego said.