Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff Chief Viktor Muzhenko and Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) Alexander Hug have met in Kyiv to discuss the Donbas situation and results of the OSCE SMM's work.

Muzhenko said at the meeting that the international observers had been contributing a lot to the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, the public relations department of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Wednesday. He assured Hug that the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff was always open to cooperation and ready to resolve any problem related to arms withdrawal verification.

"We are interested in de-escalation of the conflict and are ready to provide information about every weapon or piece of military hardware the media is interested in: where they have been withdrawn, at what range they are being used, and how many dozen kilometers they have been moved from the contact line," Muzhenko said.

Hug supported the Ukrainian wish to avoid escalation of tensions and casualties. He said that the OSCE mission had lately enlarged the number of patrols and the intensity of their activity as a way to contribute to the de-escalation efforts.