- Title: Both sides unwilling to comply with ceasefire in Ukraine's east - OSCE
- Date: 21st June 2017
- Summary: DONETSK, UKRAINE (JUNE 21, 2017) (REUTERS) OSCE SPECIAL MONITORING MISSION CARS DRIVING TO HOTEL OSCE CARS PARKED NEAR HOTEL OSCE SIGN ON CAR OSCE SPECIAL MONITORING MISSION'S PRINCIPAL DEPUTY CHIEF MONITOR, ALEXANDER HUG, AT NEWS CONFERENCE MICROPHONES (SOUNDBITE) (English) OSCE SPECIAL MONITORING MISSION'S PRINCIPAL DEPUTY CHIEF MONITOR, ALEXANDER HUG, SAYING: "And similar picture on both sides of the contact line was still there as we have been reporting for the past three years. (PAUSES FOR TRANSLATION) It is the unwillingness of the sides to comply with the agreements they have reached in Minsk, the presence of the heavy weapons in the area where they should not be." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) OSCE SPECIAL MONITORING MISSION'S PRINCIPAL DEPUTY CHIEF MONITOR, ALEXANDER HUG, SAYING: "And I was part today of the patrol that crossed the contact line numerous times. And we were denied access both by the Ukraine's armed forces and even more so by the so-called DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) to the places where the patrol wanted to go and register the effects of this conflict." MEDIA CONFERENCE ENDS
- Embargoed: 5th July 2017 21:42
- Keywords: OSCE Ukraine Ukraine's east Ukarinian rebels DPR OSCE monitor Alexander Hug
- Location: DONETSK, UKRAINE
- City: DONETSK, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0016M80VNR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: OSCE SPECIAL monitoring mission's principal deputy chief monitor, Alexander Hug, said on Wednesday (June 21) that both sides of the conflict in eastern Ukraine were unwilling to comply with the Minsk agreements.
A ceasefire agreement signed in February 2015 in Minsk that aims to end the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists has failed to end artillery fighting. Each side accuses the other of violating the truce.
Hug said in the news conference that withdrawal of heavy weapons was also largely disregarded by the sides of the conflict and that the monitors were frequently denied access by the cordons of both sides along the contact line.
Fighting between pro-Russian rebels and government forces first broke out in April 2014 after a pro-European uprising in Kiev ousted Ukraine's Moscow-backed president. About 10,000 people have been killed in the three-year conflict. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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