OSCE SMM hopes for agreement on withdrawal of arms of less than 120 mm caliber at July 21 Minsk meeting

16:55, 09.07.2015 1 min read

Deputy head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine Alexander Hug hopes to reach an agreement on the withdrawal of heavy armaments with a caliber of less than 120 mm from the contact line in Donbas at the upcoming meeting in Minsk on July 21.

"Yesterday, I returned from a meeting of a working group on security issues. The meeting was constructive. We hope that some agreements will be reached at the next meeting," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.

Hug said the involved parties are currently discussing the possibility of withdrawing tanks and weapons of less than 120 mm caliber from the contact line.

"Some have already agreed to this plan. We hope that the parties will find a way to reach an agreement, and it will be discussed at the July 21 meeting," he said.

The deputy head of the mission also noted that it was important that the parties should not only sign an agreement, but also observe it.

"At present, the OSCE SMM can confirm that heavy weapons have been withdrawn as was envisaged in the Minsk agreements," he said.