Monitors from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) sometimes go to the part of the Donetsk region-Russia border, but they do not have such access in Luhansk region, OSCE First Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said.

The mission's mandate has been expanded to the entire territory of Ukraine, including the territory of the Ukrainian-Russian border, Hug said, in Kyiv on Wednesday, at a round-table meeting entitled "Ukraine and the Priorities of Germany's Chairmanship of the OSCE" organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Ukrainian Independent Center for Political Studies.

Hug said the mission is constantly trying to access the section of the border. Specifically, he said that monitors are able to reach the border in Donetsk region, but cannot reach checkpoints in Luhansk region.

Hug added that representatives from the mission are being prevented from reaching the border in Luhansk region.