Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke of the objectives and stages of work of the OSCE armed police mission in the Ukranian Donbas.
Among the tasks that the president named in an interview to Ukrainian TV channels is the effective monitoring of the contact line, deploying permanent armed checkpoints in locations of arms withdrawal as well as observation posts in the uncontrolled area of the Ukrainian-Russian border. Petro Poroshenko determined as stages ensuring sustainable security, preparing for and holding of the elections, and conveying the power to the elected representatives of the Ukrainian authorities in Donbas.
”The first thing that should be the main premise is a sustainable ceasefire, safety criteria, which should certainly be respected not only along the contact line but also throughout the occupied territory,” said the president.
”Despite the titanic efforts of the OSCE SMM, the attacks continue, especially with regard to Avdiyivka, Maryinka, and the certain areas in Luhansk region; there can be between 30 and 70 attacks in one spot alone in just one day,” Poroshenko said.
”Responsibility for the vast majority of violations rests with the occupation forces. Our troops only return fire, but the OSCE SMM monitors fail to witness this, as they are not armed. They only record the fact of shelling, but are not always able to spot, from which side the shells were fired. That is why we emphasize that we have to introduce a special new police mission, well armed and equipped with heavy weapons, which will be able to ensure security and protect themselves,” said the president.
”They have three objectives: first is an efficient monitoring of the contact line so that we know where, at what point, and who breaks the ceasefire regime, and so that we can respond quickly; the second – they have to deploy permanent military checkpoints in the areas of withdrawal of tanks, artillery, mortars, and heavy equipment, and ensure there is no possibility of access to this weaponry of the illegal armed groups; the third thing – they have to arrange their observation posts in the uncontrolled area of the Ukrainian-Russian border in order to stop the supply of Russian troops, equipment and ammunition through the uncontrolled portion of the Ukrainian-Russian border and then, after a political settlement, to hand these posts over to the Ukrainian border guards,” Poroshenko said.
”If this is achieved, the tasks of the Armed Police Mission have three stages,” said the president. ”First – security component. Second – preparation and holding of elections. Third – conveying power to newly elected representatives of the Ukrainian Donbas.”
As UaPosition reported earlier, President of Petro Poroshenko expects to deploy the OSCE armed police mission in Donbas in the near future.
