At the Contact Group’s meeting devoted to security issues, DPR and LPR representatives insisted on the priority need to agree on a package of additional strengthening and control measures for the indefinite ceasefire, which has been in force since July 21, the DPR MFA reports.
“The Republics pointed out that the key task in terms of security issues is to approve a list of additional measures to control the current indefinite truce.
Despite some general decrease in escalation, attacks on the DPR territory have not ceased and still lead to civilian casualties and damage to housing and infrastructure.
We still believe that the written obligations of the parties to fulfil these measures will transfer responsibility for their fulfillment to the legal field, which will allow disciplining the ceasefire observance.
Representatives of the republics have called to discuss these measures item by item, while our position remains the same: the list of measures should be supplemented taking into account realities which should not be crossed out, all the more so the ones that had been agreed earlier, in order not to emasculate but to strengthen control over the ceasefire regime at the line of contact.
Therefore, the publication of relevant orders, a ban on the opening of any fire and the availability of operational communication in case of violations are the measures that must be unconditionally approved by the parties,” Nikonorova told about the course of the Contact Group’s meeting devoted to security.
Also, the DPR envoy raised the issue of the OSCE SMM’s complex of cameras that was destroyed near Petrovskoye close by the disengagement area.
“We expect a more detailed technical examination and publication of its results in a report of the OSCE SMM, and we are ready to support the process in every possible way. On our part, the DPR Representative Office to the JCCC conducted the necessary investigation, whose results were made public.
We have no doubt about who destroyed the camera and for what purpose. On June 3, when the SMM team went to find out what had happened to the camera, the monitors reported ceasefire violations by the AFU. Moreover, in the recent report, the Mission noted that on June 8, in the immediate vicinity of the disengagement area, they saw seven soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces unloading boxes of ammunition (including boxes with rocket-propelled grenades) and taking them to an underground facility. The patrol also saw two armored combat vehicles (looking like BMP) under a camouflage net among residential buildings of Bogdanovka near the disengagement area,” Natalya Nikonorova stated.
The OSCE coordinator noted that as part of fulfilling the order of the leaders of the Normandy format in terms of agreeing on three more areas, some progress has been made and we can say that the parties agreed on two possible areas near Petrovka (LPR) and Grigorovka, it remains to determine the third.
“In the context of further implementation of the withdrawal of forces and weapons of the parties, the most important aspect is to agree on and sign a Supplement to the Framework Decision, whose discussion has finally been started by the negotiators from the specialized group. I wish this discussion brought more results, this work should proceed more actively, and we expect that participants will pay more attention to this issue at the next meeting,” Nikonorova summarized.