Putin orders withdrawal of Russia troops

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has reportedly ordered thousands of troops stationed near the Ukrainian border to come back to their bases.

Putin’s spokesman said about 17,600 soldiers in the Rostov region would be pulled back because the period of their training is completed, Russian media reported.

“[Mr] Putin has ordered to start the returning of troops to regular station,” Dmitry Peskov said in quotes carried by Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies.

The order came ahead of a planned meeting between the Russian president and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko on Friday.

The meeting, which would be their first since August, is expected to be held on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in the Italian city of Milan.

“I don’t expect that these will be easy negotiations,” Poroshenko said, adding that the prime ministers of Italy and Britain as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel would participate in the talks.

The Ukrainian president said he would discuss with Putin the peace plan and the September 5 truce pact between pro-Russian forces and Kiev to end heavy clashes in the country’s east, as well as “the issue of controlling the fulfillment of the agreement,” along with the gas dispute with Moscow.

“We are very close to regulating the issue of the gas dispute with Russia right now,” he said, adding, “I hope that there will be considerable progress” on that.

Russia shut off gas deliveries to Ukraine in June, saying Kiev has not settled its debts. Ukraine is at the risk of facing gas shortages in the winter if the disagreement is not resolved.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Russians in mid-April.

MR/MAM/KA