15:02 22.02.2016

Ukrainian foreign minister wants to broaden range of issues discussed in 'Normandy format'

2 min read
Ukrainian foreign minister wants to broaden range of issues discussed in 'Normandy format'

Ukraine will put three key sets of issues on the agenda of the 'Normandy Four' negotiations between foreign ministers, which are tentatively planned for March 3, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.

"I believe that we need to broaden it [the agenda]. Hopefully, we have managed to explain a number of peculiarities to our Western partners," Klimkin told Interfax-Ukraine in an exclusive interview.

First of all, these are security issues. "Our colleagues used to think that security means ceasefire. Now there is the clear realization that it also means OSCE SMM access to every place in Donbas. Then, and this is crucial, SMM access to the border and its real monitoring," the minister said.

The minister explained what, in his opinion, the monitoring should include: the deployment of special OSCE SMM bases along the border and the possibility of sudden inspections during the first phase. He said their representatives should be stationed at nine checkpoints and control them during the second phase, and the third phase should create an efficient system of control over border sections between those checkpoints.

"The fourth element of security is who will be watching the withdrawal of armaments and, if a part of them are put under control, who will be watching the storages. We need an international component for doing so. For now, the main idea about the international component is an international mission of the OSCE. I want to present our vision at the next meeting in the 'Normandy format', and I have begun to discuss the mandate and tasks of that mission with our friends," Klimkin said.

Another issue the minister plans to highlight is the prisoner swap.

Elections in Donbas are the third subject, the minister said, adding that elections required security. "Again, we will need security for doing so - if there is no [security] there and the OSCE does not okay elections, then nothing can happen there," the minister said.

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