OSCE Mission Notes Drop in Violence in Eastern Ukraine Following Truce Regime

The recommitment of the conflicting sides in Ukraine to a ceasefire, which came into force on September 1, has already led to a drop of violence in the country's east, Alexander Hug, deputy chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A new ceasefire regime came into force in Ukraine’s troubled southeast on Thursday. The ceasefire agreement was reached between Ukraine’s conflicting sides during a Contact Group meeting in August.

"Something very positive happened last Friday. The sides agreed to renew their commitment to adhere to a ceasefire at the start of the new school year. Now we have already noted a drop of violence but it is still too early to say if the sides are truly committed to adherence. There is no question in my mind that if they truly are committed, they can do it," Hug said at a briefing.

The Trilateral Contact Group, which includes representatives from Kiev, Donbas, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), hold regular meetings in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, aimed at facilitating a diplomatic resolution to the armed conflict in Ukraine’s southeast.