Today, as part of the discussion of the results of the security subgroup’s meeting, members of the Contact Group listened to the report of the coordinator, Ambassador Çevik, and focused on the impasse in the implementation of the Ceasefire Enhancement Measures, the press service of the DPR MFA reports.
“Our proposal remains the same: agree on an updated package of measures as soon as possible to make it work effectively, because in our opinion the Ukrainian side has completely disavowed the document signed earlier, denying the agreed understanding of “interaction within the current composition of the JCCC”.
It is critical to clarify the functionality of the coordination mechanism and sign the amended agreement as soon as possible in order to work in full.
Since July 27, more than 500 items of ammunition have been fired on our territory, not including the use of small arms, of which half — 254 — in the last two weeks alone.
Moreover, three our soldiers were killed, and one of them is Andrei Pankin, a battalion commander who was trying to save his fellow soldier, who was wounded in mortar shelling by the AFU. The battalion commander was killed by a Ukrainian sniper, which strongly contradicts both the logic of the current unconditional and permanent truce and internationally recognized humanitarian laws.
Summing up briefly the current state of affairs on the security track regarding all issues on the agenda, including both disengagement and demining, it can be safely said that, based on the position and proposals of Ukraine on the Road Map, we would rather have to mine than demine our border, because Ukraine is committed to solving the conflict by force. This is the worst scenario of resolving the armed conflict, which is far from a peaceful political settlement. But today the Ukrainian side has admitted the need to bring their projects in line with the Minsk Agreements, and we still expect them to fulfill their promise,” Natalia Nikonorova commented on the situation with the talks.
