Ukraine said Thursday that it has begun withdrawing heavy weapons from the front line in the country's east,injecting new hope into the latest peace agreement. Military spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh said that the armed forces were withdrawing 100-millimetre artillery cannons along the entire frontline, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported. The Defence Ministry in Kiev earlier announced the withdrawal, saying that it will be carried out only in the presence of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The move comes ten days later than stipulated in the peace agreement signed on February 12 in Minsk. Ukraine initially refused to carryout the withdrawal, pointing to ceasefire violations by the Russia-backed separatists. The Ukrainian Security Council said Wednesday that the situation had stabilized. Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in Kiev that Ukrainian forces suffered no deaths and four injuries during the past 24 hours. It was the second day in a row with no fatalities.
