Foreign minister Prystaiko: Disengagement of troops in Zolote taking place right now

"The disengagement of troops in Zolote is taking place right now. We start today," Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko told reporters on the sidelines of the first RE:think. Invest in Ukraine forum in Mariupol, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He added that the disengagement must be verified and confirmed by the OSCE SMM which will inform the international partners about the process.

"We gave them [OSCE SMM] time to get ready. It was agreed with them that they should get ready, bring more patrols, install video cameras to see the disengagement process, check and inform us, Russia, Germany and France that the disengagement is completed," the minister said.

According to Prystaiko, the Ukrainian side does not interfere in the process of OSCE SMM’s control over the disengagement as it wants the process to be "absolutely unbiased and transparent."

"We read their reports. But we also read the daily reports on shelling. For example, the last shelling of Zolote was recorded on October 18, according to the OSCE SMM, that is, about ten days ago. We waited for seven days and reported to SMM that we were ready [for disengagement], gave them one day for preparation and started the disengagement. [The disengagement in] Petrivske will be next," Prystaiko noted.

The disengagement process is controlled, we do not abandon the grey zone and we will be able to return as the disengagement is not so distant, the Ukrainian minister emphasized.

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