Ukrainian Foreign Minister Considers Reinforcing OSCE Mission In Donbas Necessary

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin on Wednesday stressed the need to reinforce the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (OSCE SMM) in the eastern Donbas region, including by technical means

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2019) Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin on Wednesday stressed the need to reinforce the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (OSCE SMM) in the eastern Donbas region, including by technical means.

"It is very important to reinforce the SMM. Of course, [this means] to strengthen human potential and strengthen the SMM technically. We need both new cameras and drones," Klimkin said during a conversation with reporters aired on the Twitter account of Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kateryna Zelenko.

According to Klimkin, such agreements already exist, so the OSCE mission will receive new cameras and drones to record the situation in the region.

The conflict in Donbas started in 2014, when Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against self-proclaimed republics in the region that refused to recognize the new government in Kiev, which came to power after what these republics considered to be a coup.

In 2015, a ceasefire deal was signed between conflicting sides in Minsk following talks brokered by the leaders of the so-called Normandy group Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine. Despite this agreement, sporadic fighting has continued in Donbas. To date, the situation remains tense, with both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire.