Kremlin accuses Ukraine of dragging its feet on implementing peace agreement

Natalya Barakhlenko and her sons, Anton, right, and Denis, who have fled their separatist-held hometown of Horlivka, sit in a hostel for the internally displaced in the government-controlled city of Slovyansk, Donetsk' region, Ukraine, Thursday, March 12, 2015. Ukraine’s government reported in early March that there are almost 1.1 million registered internally displaced people across the country. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) (The Associated Press)

Troops in action during a military exercise as Pro-Russian rebel forces practice, near to Yenakiyeve in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Wednesday March 11, 2015. Several pro-Russian rebel battalions took part in large-scale military exercise Wednesday. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov) (The Associated Press)

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman is accusing Ukraine of dragging its feet on implementing last month's peace deal.

Dmitry Peskov told The Associated Press on Thursday that while hostilities in eastern Ukraine have abated thanks to the Feb. 12 peace deal, the Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government are still blaming each other for a slow and incomplete withdrawal of heavy weapons. He said "we do expect both sides of the conflict to fulfill their obligations, and to withdraw completely and timely all the heavy armaments."

Peskov also said Russia was concerned about Ukraine's reluctance to fulfill its pledge to restore financial and social services to the eastern regions.

More than 6,000 people have been killed in the fighting between government troops and the rebels in eastern Ukraine since April.