E. Ukraine artillery withdrawal focus of FMs meeting – as Poroshenko buys UAE weaponsPublished time: February 24, 2015 11:44 Edited time: February 24, 2015 16:43 German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (2nd L) welcomes his counterparts from France, Laurent Fabius (R) Russia, Sergey Lavrov (L) and Ukraine, Pavel Klimkin (2nd R) for a meeting in Berlin January 21, 2015. (Reuters / Michael Sohn / Pool) While the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine were meeting in Paris to talk about the Eastern Ukraine peace settlement, it was revealed that the Ukrainian president has struck a deal on arms supplies from the UAE. The four ministers agreed on the need for the ceasefire to be respected, as well as on the need to extend the OSCE mission in Eastern Ukraine, reinforcing it with more funding, personnel and equipment.
It’s important for Kiev troops and the rebels to start withdrawing heavy weapons right now, without waiting for the time “when not a single shot is fired,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after the meeting. He added that his German and French counterparts thought it a positive development that the Donetsk and the Lugansk rebels had started to pull their artillery back. “The situation has significantly improved, that was acknowledged by my partners,” Lavrov said. “However, sporadic violations are being registered by the OSCE observers.” The withdrawal of heavy weaponry by Kiev troops and the rebels is part of the ceasefire deal struck in Minsk earlier in February. The Donetsk militia has announced it is complying. “Today at 9 am our units continued the pullback of heavy weaponry from the separation line," said Eduard Basurin, spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Tass news agency reported. Video: /files/news/39/62/30/00/2612787_cars_sm.mp4
READ MORE: Contested Debaltsevo area remains a stumbling block in E.Ukraine He specified that some 96 D-30 howitzers are to be withdrawn from Debaltsevo, Gorlovka, Donetsk and Telmanovo. Militia units of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic promised to follow suit at noon Tuesday. "Today at 12 noon rocket artillery will be particularly withdrawn in the area of Debaltsevo," said a deputy commander of the Lugansk militia, Vitaly Kiselev. OCSE could not so far confirm the withdrawal of heavy weaponry by the rebel forces. Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the OSCE observer mission in eastern Ukraine, said he could not comment until receiving monitors reports at the end of the day, according to AP. Kiev has meanwhile refused to start the pullback, blaming the rebels for ceasefire violations.
“Our positions are being shelled non-stop,” a spokesman for the military operation in eastern Ukraine, Anatoly Stelmakh, told RIA Novosti. “So the first stage is at a least a daylong ceasefire. Only then will we speak of some kind of weapons withdrawal.”
Ukrainian military spokesman Andrey Lysenko said two days of ceasefire were necessary for the Kiev troops to start heavy weaponry withdrawal.
The Donetsk and Lugansk militia denied accusations of non-compliance with the ceasefire. They say they are only responding to fire from Kiev troops. READ MORE: US arming Kiev would ‘explode’ situation in E. Ukraine – Russian Foreign Ministry
UAE to send weapons to UkraineUkrainian President Petro Poroshenko has meanwhile reached an agreement on weapons supplies from the United Arab Emirates. That’s according to a Facebook post by advisor to Ukrainian Interior Minister, Anton Gerashchenko.
The deal was struck with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. “It’s worth emphasizing that unlike Europeans and Americans, the Arabs aren’t afraid of Putin’s threats of a third world war starting in case of arms and ammunition supplies to Ukraine,” Gerashchenko wrote.
He also said he believed the UAE blamed Russia for the drop in oil prices.
“So, this is going to be their little revenge,” the adviser said.
Gerashchenko said the types of weapons to be delivered and the volume of the supplies could not be disclosed. | 
