OSCE: May 9th military parade in Donetsk would be a violation of the Minsk Agreements
The deputy head of the OSCE SMM commented on the presence of military vehicles during the parade in Donetsk on May 9th. Alexander Hug made it clear that the participation of military equipment in Donetsk’s Victory Day Parade will be considered a violation of the Minsk Agreements.
"There is another holiday: May 9th. I want to be very clear about this. Weapons in the security zone is clearly a violation of the Minsk agreements," he said at a briefing in Kiev.
Hug reiterated that the OSCE SMM regularly informs about the facts of violations of the provisions on withdrawal of heavy weapons and military equipment from the line of contact in their reports. They would continue to do so as long as the SMM notices the violations.
Also, the Deputy Head noted that the local population constantly complains to the monitors about the presence of mines on transport routes in the region, which greatly complicates the ability of people to move around and threatens their safety.
Previously, it was reported that on April 20th the Ukrainian side of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk (Belarus) warned Donetsk and Luhansk about holding the parade. "On the eve of May 9th celebrations we warned representatives of certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that conducting the so-called parade of military equipment in Donetsk will be a direct and flagrant violation of the Minsk Agreements,” said the press secretary of the Ukrainian representative in the Trilateral Contact Group, Daria Olifer. She addressed the issue on her on Facebook page after the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on Wednesday.
Olifer stressed that in accordance with the Minsk Agreements, all weapons should be withdrawn from the line of contact in places of permanent deployment. "And this withdrawal must be confirmed by the staff of the OSCE SMM," she noted.