An armed mission of the Organization for Control and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) should receive control over the border section with Russia in eastern Ukraine before local elections take place in Donbas, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
"I emphasized that the amount of weapons and military equipment, which Russia continues to deliver through the uncontrolled section of the Ukrainian-Russian border, has reached its limit. The number of tanks, artillery weapons, armored personnel carriers, multiple rocket launchers on the occupied territory exceeds armaments of the Bundeswehr. And this is why at the first stage, that is the stage before the elections, we should receive control over the border from the side of the OSCE armed mission," Poroshenko said in an interview with the Ukrainian television channels.This is clearly stipulated in the Minsk agreements and the Ukrainian side has always insisted on this, the president said.
"Control from the side of the OSCE armed mission should stop Russian troops, Russian weapons and Russian equipment from infiltrating," he said, adding the Ukrainian side has always insisted on this sequence of steps.
"On the second day after the elections Ukrainian military should take the border under its control. This is already stipulated in the Minsk [agreements] and this should be included in the roadmap with an exact date and clear-cut responsibility," Poroshenko also said.
