News and press releases

In Donetsk region the SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations between the evening of 9 December and the evening of 10 December compared with the previous reporting period, and fewer on 11 December. In Luhansk region the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations between the evening of 9 December and the evening of 10 December compared with the previous reporting period, but more on 11 December. The SMM followed up on reports of shelling in Donetsk city, Dokuchaievsk, Hryhorivka and Zhovte. The Mission continued to monitor the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but was restricted in its access. The SMM monitored four border areas currently outside government control...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued to monitor the disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske and was restricted in its movement.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines and others missing from assigned areas. It monitored repair works to electric power lines between Avdiivka and Yasynuvata. It monitored the situation of civilians at entry-exit crossing points. The SMM monitored one border area currently outside government control...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period...

“In the wake of the current confrontation between Russia and the West, will the nations of Europe govern their interactions by rules and principles, as the signatories of the Helsinki Final Act hoped, or by the conjuncture or clash of national interests?” This was the leading question of a study conducted by the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions presented at a side event of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg on 8 December 2016.

The SMM recorded a similar number of explosions in Donetsk region compared with the previous reporting period, but fewer ceasefire violations over all...

HAMBURG, Germany, 8 December 2016 – On the first day of the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier addressed delegations at a side event on the crisis in and around Ukraine. The minister was briefed by his Special Representative in Ukraine and to the Trilateral Contact Group, Martin Sajdik, and the Chief Monitor of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), Ertuğrul Apakan, on the state of play...

HAMBURG, Germany, 8 December 2016- We, the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries – Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State of the United States John Kerry, and Foreign Minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault- remain fully committed to a negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict...