Putin: both govt and militias in Ukraine occasionally breach Minsk deal
MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that each side in the eastern Ukrainian conflict had occasionally been departing from the Minsk agreements.
"We stand for complete compliance with them. At the same time, we point out that not everything is being complied with by either side - either by the Kyiv authorities or by Donetsk and Luhansk," Putin told reporters after meeting with French President Francois Hollande in Moscow.
"Let's hope that both Kyiv, on the one hand, and Donetsk and Luhansk, on the other, will be able to achieve mutually acceptable solutions that would satisfy both sides and, most importantly, put an end to the military part of the conflict at this stage," Putin said.
"Specialists have reached an agreement on several [separation] lines from which heavy armaments are to be withdrawn - one line for civilian separation, one line for the withdrawal of the artillery, and one more line, a line for the withdrawal of multiple rocket launchers," he said.
"There are no controversies" on the separation lines for artillery and multiple rocket launchers, the Russian leader said.
"Everyone accepts that, but it must be done as quickly as possible. I do very much hope that it will be done very soon because after that happens, when an end is put to shelling and human deaths, only after that will it be possible to speak about the start of a genuine political process and the restoration of common political space," he said.