U.S. calls on Russia to stop restricting SMM’s movement in Donbas

U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) James S. Gilmore said this during a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday, January 16, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The United States calls on Russia to direct its proxies to cease their harassment of the Special Monitoring Mission, as required by Moscow’s commitments under the Minsk agreements," he said.

The American diplomat noted that harassment of the Mission persisted, as Russian proxies restricted the movements of the monitors. In addition, the SMM reported several instances of jamming or small arms fire directed at the Mission’s UAVs.

The ambassador urged both sides to refrain from any attempt to interfere with or damage the Mission’s valuable UAV assets, purchased by the taxpayers of the participating States of this Permanent Council.

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