US Department of State avoided pointing to the source of its information about the ceasefire violations in Donbass

During the briefing a journalist mentioned the data from the OSCE daily reports for the last two months, confirming that the DPR and LPR forces were breaching Minsk agreements in only insignificantly more instances than Ukrainian forces. In a third of cases it was impossible to establish who was the initiator. Also the journalist noted that in the context of heavy weaponry withdrawal Ukrainian forces breached the Agreement more often than NAF.

To the question of where State Department gets the information that NAF were responsible “for the absolute majority of violations”, Marie Harf answered:”From most sources, including the OSCE”.

The State Department spokesperson said that she was unfamiliar with the information that the journalist was presenting and that she would study it additionally. According to Harf the experts from the State Department that were studying the OSCE reports voiced the opinion that NAF were violating peace more often than Ukrainian forces.

“…All that we are getting from the OSCE and other information sources points out that the absolute majority [of violations] comes from pro Russian rebels”- said State Department spokeswoman.