MILAN, October 17 (RIA Novosti) – The participants of the talks on Ukraine in Milan agreed on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for monitoring the situation in eastern Ukraine, with details to be finalized in Vienna, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday.
"It was agreed to use unmanned aerial vehicles – modern equipment that helps determine the location of attacks if they occur. Italy, France, Germany and Russia will jointly work in this area," Putin told journalists.
The Russian president said experts should meet shortly in Vienna within the framework of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and settle technical issues.
On September 13, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that he had authorized the deployment of UAVs by the OSCE mission for monitoring the implementation of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. The first two drones arrived in Ukraine on October 6.
The deployment of OSCE drones, initially planned for late September or early October, has been postponed several times.
Russia's OSCE envoy Andrei Kelin said in September that training of UAV maintenance personnel was underway and that the first drones would be tested soon, while the OSCE press office reported that the first two drones would be launched in late October.
