Weapons under 100mm pullback deal in Donbas should be signed as quickly as possible - OSCE SMM

Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) on Ukraine Alexander Hug noted a lull in the zone of combat actions in Donbas and said that an agreement on the withdrawal of weapons with a caliber under 100mm from the contact line between the conflicting parties should be signed in Minsk as quickly as possible.

Hug told a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday that he and OSCE SMM head Ertugrul Apakan have come back from Minsk, where the Trilateral Contact Group has held negotiations over the past two days. At this already ninth meeting the participants continued to focus on the issue of pulling back weapons with a caliber under 100mm, as well as grenade launchers exclusively under 120 mm, he said. This goal is attainable and needed, he said. The signing of this agreement will become a major step for a broader non-use of weapons, which is cited in the Minsk protocol and memorandum, he said.

He said that such weapons should be withdrawn to continue the tendency towards a ceasefire.

Probably, first and foremost, he said weapons should be pulled back from settlements, Hug said.

Meanwhile, he confirmed practically the full observance of the ceasefire regime in Donbas recently.

The OSCE SMM is witnessing a sharp decline in cases violating the ceasefire in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, for instance, on Thursday, no such cases were reported in the Luhansk region and only one case in the Donetsk region, Hug said.

However, a large amount of weapons remain in those regions, which already should be a security zone, he said.