OSCE Observation Posts in Donbass Should Work 24/7 - Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) needs to ensure the 24/7 work of its posts located on the most demanding areas along the separation line in Donbass.

BRATISLAVA (Sputnik) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday that the observation posts of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission in eastern Ukraine should be operating round the clock.

“The Special Monitoring Mission needs to ensure the 24/7 work of its posts located on the most demanding areas along the separation line,” Lavrov said at a press conference following the meeting with his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Lajcak.

Lavrov added that Lajcak shares his stance regarding the need to maximize the efficacy of monitoring how the sides to Ukrainian conflict comply with the military-related provisions of the Minsk agreements.

In mid-February, during a meeting in Minsk, the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine agreed on a set of measures aimed at ending the military conflict between Kiev forces and independence supporters of Donbass.

The new Minsk agreements include a ceasefire, which began on February 15, the withdrawal of heavy artillery from the line of contact between the conflicting sides in Donbass and granting special status to regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Under the Minsk deal, the OSCE has been tasked with controlling the pullout of heavy weapons as well as monitoring the situation at border crossings between Ukraine and Russia.