Russian military forces (Photo : Reuters)
Russia and Ukraine already agreed last Monday to withdraw smaller weapons used in the war in Eastern Ukraine as the battle between pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine military forces reach one year.
In a report by Chron, the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine met with the foreign ministers of France and Germany when the deal was struck in an effort to end the ongoing war. The deal was that mortars and heavy weapons that are below 100 mm caliber should be withdrawn.
Aside from the withdrawal of weapons, they also talked about establishing four working groups in order to face the issues being faced by the citizens of the country such as local elections, exchange of prisoners, and improving the economic status of Eastern Ukraine.
According to the publication, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier was the one who hosted the meeting and pushed the Russian and Ukrainian parties to abide by the rules set by the agreements that were signed in Minsk last September and February this year.
Steinmeier also told BBC that the meeting with the other foreign ministers was very intense and controversial same with the past meetings with Russia and Ukraine. However, he did confirm that the parties agreed on committing to the ceasefire agreements.
In the report of the publication, the war continued despite the meeting held by the four foreign ministers as Ukrainian officials told the publication that there was heavy shelling in Donetsk. Ukrainian forces reported that they were fired 26 times by the Russian-backed separatists.
The rebels and Ukrainians did claim that they are no longer using heavy weapons but the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) did not confirm this information.
Around 6,000 people were already killed in the battle between the separatists and the military forces since last year.
