The head of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine, Ertugrul Apakan, has welcomed the signing of an agreement to remove weapons with a caliber of less than 100 millimeters from the contact line, and said the Mission will be watching how the parties are implementing this agreement.

"It is my hope that this is a step towards peace, normalization and stabilization in the interest of the people of Ukraine. I call on all sides to devote their full commitment to the peace process," he said in an OSCE SMM press release on Wednesday.

"The SMM, which currently has more than 540 monitors in Ukraine, will monitor implementation of the agreement within the framework of its mandate," the statement reads.