The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) mission in Ukraine welcomes the signing in Minsk of the framework agreement on the disengagement of forces and weapons in three sectors in Donbas, the First Deputy OSCE SMM chief Alexander Hug has said.

"We’re welcoming the signing of the agreements on disengagement in three sectors … The OSCE's SMM will monitor compliance and conduct verification of the agreements on both sides of the line of demarcation," Hug said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

Hug emphasized that without an appraisal of his mission and through verification it would be impossible to say whether the agreement was being carried out.

He said the SMM has enough resources to conduct thorough monitoring of the disengagement of forces and weapons in Petrovske, Zolote and Stanytsia Luhanska.

"We have the resources and the support of 57 OSCE member states. We conduct visual and acoustical monitoring. The signatories of the agreement must carry out their duties – to ensure access of monitors and draw back forces and hardware," he said.

Hug said that during the course of fulfillment of the monitors' mandate there have been many instances when they were not allowed access to certain areas.

"Even on the day of the signing of this agreement our monitors faced limitations on where they could travel in Petrovske and Zolote – two of the three sectors mentioned in the agreement reached in Minsk," Hug said.

In this connection he noted that armed forces and formations on the ground close to these areas must be notified immediately that there should be no restrictions on the movement of SMM patrols.

"Only then can we verify that the sides have actually pulled back weapons and personnel from these areas. With access, we can monitor. Through monitoring we can verify. With verification, there is trust, and with trust, there is complete compliance and full disengagement. We would also be very grateful if you could mention the need for access in the headline" Hug said.

On September 21 members of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk signed a framework agreement on disengagement of forces and hardware in three sectors of Donbas. The document envisages establishing of three security sectors on the line of demarcation [between Ukrainian government forces and combined Russian-separatist armed groups] in Donbas over an area not less than four square kilometers. The OSCE SMM is to monitor the agreement.