Self-declared republics withdrawl of heavy weapons a sham – Klimkin
Representatives of the 'Donetsk People's Republic' and 'Luhansk People's Republic' are preventing OSCE SMM monitors from observing the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the contact line in Donbas, illustrating that the process is a sham, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.
"Representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk constantly won't admit representatives of the OSCE representatives to the monitoring of the process of the withdrawal [of heavy weaponry], thus transforming an essential part of this process into a sham," he said at a briefing after the National Security and Defense Council's military board met in Kyiv on Tuesday.
Klimkin said that during the meeting representatives of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had discussed their clear and transparent implementation of the plan to withdraw heavy weaponry and how they "adhere by Minsk Agreements according to international law and OSCE requirements."
Klimkin said that Ukraine completely adhered to the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.
"Besides, this process should be fulfilled under the full control of the OSCE, each step must be estimated by the international community since neither Ukraine nor the international community has ever aspired to profane the implementation of the Minsk agreements," he said, adding that the Ukraine had implemented the agreements "very neatly and transparently."