Ukraine's foreign minister speaks at NATO of deteriorating situation in Donbas

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin informed his counterparts of the increased frequency of firings and deteriorating humanitarian situation in entire Donbas during the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission.

"I told about a new wave of escalation and the participants expressed their concern over the actions of Russian mercenaries, who are, in particular, obstructing the monitors of the SMM [Special Monitoring Mission] of the OSCE in their monitoring and verifying the weapons withdrawal. The Minsk agreements provide for a full access for monitors to all locations in Donbas," Klimkin said at the press conference held after the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission in Brussels on Wednesday.

Klimkin also updated the meeting's participants on the humanitarian situation in the zone of the military operation and accused the opposing side of obstructing the rehabilitating works and the activities of international humanitarian organizations.

"I informed the [foreign] ministers of the constant actions aimed at the aggravating of the humanitarian situation. In particular, by means of impeding the activities of the humanitarian organizations and those organizations operating under the aegis of UN […] and also on the matter of the revocation of the safety guarantee for Ukrainian repair brigades that restored the electricity and water supply," he said.