OSCE monitors are ready to monitor the Ukrainian-Russian border if they get an appropriate mandate, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said.

Zannier told a press conference in Kyiv on Friday that the OSCE does not have a mandate to protect the Ukrainian-Russian border, but is ready to go to the border and monitor it if safety guarantees are provided.

Zannier recalled that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission now has a small division that has a right to be present on specific parts of the Ukrainian-Russian border and conduct monitoring there.

Zannier also said the Minsk agreements do not envisage monitoring of the Ukrainian-Russian border.