Ukraine Welcomes Providing OSCE SMM With Equipment for 24-Hour Surveillance

Kiev welcomed an initiative of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine to equip the monitors with additional technical devices allowing the round-the-clock surveillance since 2017, Chief of the General Staff Viktor Muzhenko said on Saturday.

KIEV (Sputnik) — In January, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that he had discussed with his Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz, who is also the OSCE chairman, the necessity of enhancing the OSCE SMM in Ukraine both in technical support and personnel.

"We support the plans of the OSCE SMM to provide their monitors with additional equipment and deployment of the observation posts on the occupied territories of Donbas," Muzhenko said at a meeting with OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Chief Monitor Ertugrul Apakan.

Muzhenko and Apakan discussed the aspects of the work optimization, enhancing the effectiveness and other issues of the OSCE SMM in Ukraine.

The eastern part of Ukraine, including the Luhansk region, has been in turmoil since April 2014, when Kiev authorities launched a military operation against local militia in Donbas. In February 2015, the two sides reached a ceasefire deal after talks brokered by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine in Minsk. The SMM is tasked with overseeing the ceasefire and the implementation of the agreement.

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