Russia must withdraw heavy weapons from Stanytsia Luhanska – Volker

“A good step by Ukraine at Stanystia-Luhanska. Now it’s up to Russia to take reciprocal further steps to strengthen ceasefire including withdrawing heavy weapons and disarming illegal armed formations,” Volker posted on Twitter.

In turn, 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.

As reported, at noon on June 26, the Ukrainian military withdrew from one of the positions near the Stanytsia Luhanska checkpoint as part of the first stage of the disengagement process on the outskirts of the village.

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