Foes to pull back troops before talks

BOGDANIVKA: Ukraine’s army and Kremlin-backed separatists were set yesterday to complete the last phase of a troop pullback in the war-torn east in a key step towards a highstakes summit with Russia.

The long-awaited move is a precondition for the first face-to-face talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

The summit, whose date has yet to be set, will be mediated by French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel.

As long as no ceasefire violations take place in the area, the withdrawal was due to start around noon (5pm Thai time) in the Donetsk region between the villages of Petrivske in the separatist-controlled zone and Bogdanivka in Kiev-controlled territory, Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Ageyev said.

But in a sign of persisting tensions, a Kiev soldier was killed on Thursday in the Donetsk region although not in the disengagement area, the army said.

The warring sides held two similar pullbacks in June and October.

The withdrawal of forces would be the “final precondition” for organising the four-way summit, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said this week.

He has expressed hope that the meeting, the first at such a high level since 2016, could take place in Paris in November.

The summit has been repeatedly postponed as previous attempts to organise pullbacks of troops have failed, most recently on Monday.

Russia has said it backs a new summit but refused to commit to a timetable.

“We want to hold the summit as soon as possible, but at the same time we consider this summit has to be well organised to ensure it gets the necessary results,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

He added it was “too early to say” whether the meeting could take place this year because “many questions” remained unresolved.