OSCE Chief Urges All Conflict Sides to Continue Minsk Peace Deal Observance

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić welcomed the signs that the ceasefire was being largely respected in Ukraine and urged all sides to fulfill in good faith their obligations under the recent Minsk peace agreements.

VIENNA (Sputnik) — OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić urged Friday all sides of the Ukrainian conflict to fulfill in good faith their obligations under the recent Minsk peace agreements.

“I was pleased to hear today from Ambassador Tagliavini and Ambassador Apakan that there are signs that the ceasefire is being largely respected and that heavy weapons are being moved away from the respective lines according to commitments set out in Minsk,” an OSCE statement quoted Dačić as saying.

“I welcome this news and call on all sides to continue these encouraging moves towards irreversible withdrawal of heavy weapons, with the primary aim to create conditions for the full implementation of all provisions of the Package.”

At a summit in Minsk earlier in February, the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany agreed to a package of measures to alleviate the ongoing armed conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

The 13-point package includes a full ceasefire between Kiev-led forces and armed militia form the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics in eastern Ukraine, pullout of all heavy weapons by both sides from the contact line, as well as prisoner exchange and amnesty measures.

On Thursday, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission insisted to have a constant access to places where withdrawn weaponry was being stored in order to properly verify the withdrawal process.

Both Kiev forces and pro-independence militia said Thursday they were pulling back heavy weaponry as stipulated in the Minsk accord.