Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Kyiv Starts Troop Withdrawal From Eastern Ukraine Town

RFE/RL

   Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko said a planned troop
   withdrawal has started in the town of Zolote in the eastern Luhansk
   region, where Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting Russia-backed
   separatists for more than five years.

   "The withdrawal is taking place right now, we are beginning [the
   process] today," Prystayko said at an investment forum in the city of
   Mariupol, on Tuesday, adding that the process was delayed due to
   preparations by the OSCE mission.

   Prystayko also said that after the withdrawal process in Zolote is
   over, Kyiv will start withdrawing its forces from the nearby town of
   Petrivske.

   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who rose to the presidency
   earlier this year on promises to end the conflict, accepted the
   withdrawal plan under the so-called Steinmeier Formula, earlier in
   October.

   The Steinmeier Formula lays the groundwork for reinvigorating the
   larger peace deals known loosely as the Minsk Accords, and the first
   major international summit on the Ukraine conflict in three years.

.