Escalating violence in eastern Ukraine is against the spirit of the Minsk Agreements, says OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Dačić

BELGRADE, 11 August 2015 - The current escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine is alarming and against the spirit of the Minsk Agreements, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić said today following reports of fighting in several areas in the Donetsk region. He reminded all sides of their responsibility to adhere to the ceasefire and prevent further civilian casualties.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) today reported that there was a significant increase of ceasefire violations yesterday in areas east and north of Mariupol. The area in and around Starohnativka is of particular concern at the moment.

SMM monitors were again fired upon this afternoon in eastern Ukraine.

“Security and freedom of movement is crucial for the SMM to fulfill its mandate,” said Dačić. “Once again, I strongly condemn any incidents or actions that hamper the SMM’s work,” he said. Inviolability of SMM property should be fully ensured, Dačić stated, and condemned the incident in which four armoured SMM vehicles were destroyed in a fire in Donetsk on Sunday.