On 4 July 2015, in Shirokino, the heads of the Joint Centre for Ceasefire Control and Coordination (JCCC) held a working meeting with the leadership of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) on the issue of demilitarization of Shirokino.
One should mention that the DPR authorities decided on 1 July upon a unilateral demilitarization of the village by withdrawing their forces, as they wished to further peace initiatives and desired to reduce tension in the area.
To ensure continuous monitoring and verification of the complete cease-fire, the participants discussed deployment of a Monitoring Group, which would include representatives of the Ukrainian, Russian, and DPR sides, with constant monitoring by the OSCE SMM of the situation in Shirokino. However, later, despite the progress made in the meeting today on agreeing to the deployment of a Monitoring Group, the Ukrainian JCCC representatives suddenly expressed opposition to DPR representatives being part of the JCCC Joint Monitoring Group in Shirokino.
Thus, the Ukrainian side deliberately disrupted earlier DPR peace initiatives by trying to exclude DPR representatives from the JCCC Joint Monitoring Group in Shirokino, an action not conducive to promoting the negotiation process. This situation confirms once again their absolute unwillingness to engage in direct dialogue with DPR and LPR representatives, that is, to carry out in good faith the Minsk Agreement of 12 February 2015.
“In this regard, the leadership of the Russian representative office of JCCC encourages the Ukrainian side to support the DPR peace initiatives to stabilise the situation at this site on the demarcation line between the conflicting parties. We have much work to organise security in the environs of Shirokino. We will immediately inform the leadership of the OSCE SMM of this information received from the Ukrainian side, coupled with their attempt to block work in this direction,” – head of the Russian office at the JCCC, Lieutenant General Alexander Romanchuk said.
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