Statement by Spokesperson of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

KYIV, 21 September, 2014 –We welcome the Memorandum of 19 September 2014 on concrete steps to be taken to de-escalate the situation in eastern Ukraine.

In keeping with the mandate entrusted to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) by all 57 OSCE participating States, the Mission will immediately and actively support the implementation and monitoring of this agreement.

Eighty SMM monitors are already in the region. These teams will be deployed out of the cities of Mariupol, Donetsk, Konstantinovka, Severodonetsk and Luhansk, to the areas of non use of weapons mentioned in paragraph five of the agreement. Their security and freedom of movement will be essential for them to do the work that has been entrusted to them.

De-escalation - including the silencing and withdrawal of weapons and clearing of mines and unexploded ordnance -  is a vital first step.

We express our gratitude to the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini, and the other members of the Trilateral Contact Group for their determination and commitment. We look forward to continuing working closely with them in the days and weeks ahead.