Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine on Sunday claimed to have withdrawn all heavy weaponry from the front lines in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, thereby fulfilling one of the key conditions of a peace deal hammered out in Minsk last month, dpa reported. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), charged with monitoring weapons withdrawal on both sides, has not confirm the move, which comes one day ahead of the March 2 withdrawal deadline agreed in the Belarussian capital. Alexander Hug, deputy head of the 450-strong OSCE mission in Ukraine, expressed on Saturday "cautious optimism" about the ceasefire. "We are currently seeing that the first step, the ceasefire, is largely holding along much of the 500-kilometre front line," said Hug, whose mission is monitoring a 50,000-square-metre conflict zone. "And we are seeing that both parties are taking steps to remove heavy weaponry from the front." The government in Kiev said that the ceasefire was largely holding in the restive Donbas region, and that no shots had been fired overnight to Sunday. -- SPA 20:04 LOCAL TIME 17:04 GMT تغريد
