KYIV, 26 June 2019 – The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, Yaşar Halit Çevik, welcomed the willingness expressed at a recent meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group to disengage from the agreed area at Stanytsia Luhanska, and reiterated the Mission’s full readiness to monitor the disengagement process.

Additional SMM patrols have been dispatched to the area of Stanytsia Luhanska, where they are observing the security and humanitarian situation, and stand ready to monitor and verify the disengagement process on both sides of the contact line. The Mission is also conducting remote observation with cameras and unmanned aerial vehicles.

“It is my strong hope that today the sides will live up to their own commitment and remove forces and hardware from Stanytsia Luhanska,” the Chief Monitor said. “The OSCE SMM is doing its part in monitoring the process; now the sides must do theirs, and take the necessary measures to make disengagement durable and sustainable.”